Tales of the Vjel Amaj Book I: Aira's Quest
by Sgt-Sparki
Summary: The orphaned foreign girl, Aira, is an enigmatic crewmember of the Vjel Amaj, a starship cruiser serving the Kiith Amaj. Venturing into the star system shrouded by its dead super gas giant, Aira confronts the quest of her fate and distant heritage.
1. Chapter 1 Rally Point

Special thanks to Betareader "SOTS" from Fanfiction net, id=1474306

Wild thumps.

She opened her eyes. Other than the faint surfaces of the offline sensory station that surrounded her and the small number of illuminating keys, darkness and the dreaded noise of trembling equipment of the bridge surrounded her and filled her heart with fear. For the last seventeen hours had the rather adolescent girl been hearing endless cranking sounds from all sides ever since the vessel entered hyperspace. Her prayers were all she had but not even that could calm her wild heart. There were so many threatening sounds that she feared the ship would tear apart at any moment. Her mind repeated over and over what the navigator woman of the ship once said:  
'_It's all okay, it's all normal_'...

Though her mind tried to sooth her fear, every impulse shaking and throwing the ship back and forth made the words of that woman ahead in the bridge hard to believe. Looking down upon her chest, Aira's hands embraced her necklace, a mystical symbol of an eye, as the ship rushed through the violent flows of hyperspace, praying this horrific voyage was to end soon...

**Chapter 1 – Rally Point**

**- Emergence of the **_**Vjel-Amaj **_**-**

The near-to-endless region of space was filled with a vast colorful dust cloud, outright dense for the bare eye. Suddenly, an energetic rift between time and space opens and begins to slide into a certain direction as a large vessel emerges its way back into normal space. With the quantum wavefront field collapsing behind, the vessel, a long, large and yet elegant ship, slowly drifts forward, having no signal-lights or any other emission.

= Outskirts of the M'randara Star System... =

Aira, whose hands still had the symbolic necklace tight within her grasp, felt the sudden calmness of the ship. This terrifying journey had thankfully, finally stopped. Aira opened her eyes again. She was still surrounded by darkness, being only able to distinguish the faint figures of very small glowing buttons and weak lights and people within the bridge that encircled her higher positioned station.

"We have safely cleared hyperspace. Is it me or are these jumps getting rougher? Auto-decoupling the hyperspace module from the conduit units to undergo cooldown", said Hailynn Delixa, navigator and Hiigaran officer of the Kiith-Amaj at the helm of the bridge. Her station was further ahead and below Aira's. Hailynn was both the navigating helmsman of the ship and second-in-command, a woman who was just a head and a half taller than Aira and possessed short black hair and blue eyes. It had only been three long months since Aira joined this in-her-eyes strange crew and Hailynn was the one assigned to take care of her ever since. Despite the woman keeping an eye on her, Aira had neither had a conversation nor a dialogue between them due to her bashfulness.

"Engage Condition Yellow. Power up all stations and standby for my commands", the 'Captain' said with a deep voice, a man whose full name still has not ever been mentioned ever to Aira. She only knew that this Hiigaran man possessed quite an interesting military record in the history of the war between Hiigara and the Vaygr, but never was she able to figure who this man was. Nonetheless, Aira neither knew why this mysterious man was commander-in-chief of this ship nor what his connection was to the Kiith-Amaj.

Various sounds of booting systems were heard from all sides and angles. At first, deep red auxiliary lighting flooded the bridge, before it slowly faded into the common artificial light allowing her to see naturally again. Aira heard voices among her surroundings along with a short rumble of the main reactor inducing its lifeblood into the power grid throughout the ship. The periodic humming sound of the power core once again flew through the ship.

The ship was slowly coming back to life.

"This is the Captain", the Captain's voice continued among all speakers throughout the ship as he stood up and then spoke into a handheld intercom device, his voice only slightly distorted by the quality of the radio systems, "To all stations, we have safely emerged from hyperspace into the M'randara System. Soon, we will be en route to rally point until our position in this sector is verified. I will now restate the reason of our presence in the system."

The Captain made a short pause and cleared his voice: "Only five days ago, the 'Naval High Command' of Hiigara received a distress transmission originating from this star system. Due to the fact that this transmission originated between Kiith-Amaji and the outer rim of Vaygr space, both 'High Command' and the '_Sajuuk_' have requested the Kiith-Amaj to respond to the emergency call as the only kiith being available and closest. Albeit the Amaji Council's status of independence between the Hiigaran Navy and other Kiithid, word has been spread that people of Amaj are among distress as well and require evacuation from the mining corporation situated here in the M'randara System. We are that _response_. The _Vjel-Amaj _possesses both capability and the capacity necessary for fulfilling this task. Until we designate our relative position to the rally point for evacuation, we will soon engage Condition Red to be ready for any possible danger. Bridge, Over and Out. *klickklick*"

"Sensory, observatory and surveillance systems coming back online in three... two... one...", one engineer announced. Surprised by the sudden sound, Aira's station, the sensory station of ship, powered itself up as a blue holographic sphere enveloped her. It did not take long until she was able to see what others could see now and beyond.

Signal-lights among the exterior hull of the ship illuminated as the power grid supplied power to all decks as well as periodically flashing navigation lights.

Several screens including the main screen fuzzed garbled signals before they slowly revealed the live feed viewing of surroundings of the ship. Many within the bridge had heard of this fascinating star system, but never had they seen it with their own eyes.

The star system was indeed covered by a vast and dense colorful nebula with layers and wakes... and deep within it its green tainted jade star, situated countless of HUs away from their position. Myriad gaseous streams and surreal colors filled their eyes, some of these enormous still and quiet waves appeared to be trying to escape the sun's grip of gravity, only to helplessly be curved right back to its surface...

The endless streams of ruby, sapphire and jade colors sparkled beautifully in Aira's eyes. Just like her true homeworld... There were stories of how these very rare types of systems were born. Some were based upon scientific facts while others followed those of religious beliefs... and yet both tale and fact had had their roots in truth...

Awoken from her daydream, Hailynn's slightly distorted voice disturbed her thoughts through the intercom device on her shoulder, "Hey, wake up. He _ordered_ you to verify our position so I can plot a course - pronto."

_Huh_?

Aira looked down and saw the Captain looking towards her, awaiting her action. The bridge crew itself was already in a hectic state. She was the only one who was lost in memories.

"Ah-ya-ya-yes ma'am - sir", Aira nervously said and laid her hands upon two orbs, each left and right upon her seat. Only needing to close her eyes shortly, this sophisticated system based on Bentusi technology allowed her to mentally uplink herself with the ships sensory system. It only required a brief moment until she opened her eyes again in astonishment.

Hailynn's main navigational screens immediately filled itself with several symbols and the typical navigation rings aligned to the systems sun and finally, the waypoint to the rally point. Noticing certain navigation rings missing, she called out, "Aira, I'm sure we'll want to perform a hasty retreat away from this system as soon as our objective is done, so... Why do I not have any designators for the hyperjump back to Hiigaran safe space?"

"I-I cannot allow clearance for hyperjumping from this position", the girl's shaky voice replied, "It is clearly... too dangerous. I am afraid I am unable to plot a... clean... hyperspace jump point away from this system. I fear the worst. A black hole is situated somewhere far away enough from this system, its event horizon however has a much greater reach within the hyperspace... A false angular attempt by a miscalculated or blind jump could result in entering the field of its event horizon", Aira replied with a soft voice, "the density in this region is far too high... I-I can barely see two – no – three stars for verifying a new far-jump point..."

"A way in, but no way out? In other words, we are trapped," Hailynn added.

"We would only need to leave the super-dense region sur-surrounding us in order for me to see more stars so I could designate a new path. However... Our emerge-point was near-to-perfect. The distance between our current position and the rally point is only 72 km away, but that is not all. I can just _sense_ unidentified objects at the edge of our conventional sensory reach. They will be entering our sector shortly."

Aira tried to focus her mind but it was too weak.  
_Your mind, soul and body is young, child. Patience_, an enigmatic voice hollowed within her memory.

"We have gathered sufficient information, thank you", the Captain said, "Commander Delixa. Engage a direct course to the rally point. We must reach that point as soon as possible."

"Yes sir, Engaging course nought-five-seven point four degrees, angle –31°, distance to rally point, 72.7 kilometers... Engaging cruise flight one-point-two", Hailynn announced as she settled both hands and feet upon the sophisticated navigational controls and pedals and started instinctively, smoothly manipulating them.

Settling himself upon his seat again, the Captain revealed one last order, "Ready the strike craft wings for defensive sorties. We will engage Condition Red shortly..."

The ship begins its flight towards the rally point, its crew anxious about the rendezvous... 

= Rally Point – Outskirts of the M'randara System =

Nearly one hour later, the _Vjel-Amaj _cruiser reached the rally point. Alone and deep within a vast blue shrouds, the ship maintained its position, awaiting the small fleet to finally appear. The crew had been on full alert and albeit the threatening limited visibility range, anxiousness had slowly grown into absolute boredom.

Aira, who had kept her eyes closed ever since the ship made its way to the rally point, remained mentally connected to the ships sensory, mentally staring at the myriad gaseous streams throughout the system.  
How much she missed her homeworld... One of the most violent regions in the galaxy and still, she called it home. Someday, she hoped she would - 

Her eyes widened. A breath-taking discovery...

Aira's soft but unusual dialectical voice caught the attention of the bridge crew, "I-I am sensing a small object 90 kilometers away that is emerging from a high density cloud... The signal... It is Vaygr! Approaching our position at high speed..."

The main screen focused on what Aira detected so the whole crew could see her discovery.

"It must be a scout... or a fighter on the lead!", someone of the bridge crew speculated loudly.  
"An ambush I suppose! The Vaygr for sure have detected our presence!", another one replied.  
"W-Wait...", Aira said, "There is more. I sense... multiple vessels emerging from the same origin of the Vaygr fighter... Two... Three... Yes, three unidentified vessels, size frigate..."

"Captain! It has got to be an ambush! Those must be assault frigates", Hailynn's voice shouted, "Suggesting an immediate retreat from this system, sir! I don't think our people have survived. There is still enough time to - !".

The Captain stared upon the screen as he saw the groups of ships making their way directly to the rally point. Was it an ambush? Maybe the Vaygr in this system have intercepted the distress call or captured and interrogated those who tried to escape. Though having the _Vjel-Amaj _responding as the only hope, the distress call for sure needed several days before it was received by Hiigara. But something did not fit right into what he was seeing.

"- Negative, Commander Delixa", the Captain replied, interrupting her speech, "Not yet."

Hailynn dropped her shoulders, "... Are we to dispatch our fighters, sir?"

"A second group of frigates has emerged from same dense cloud region, count four... The Vaygr fighter has engaged a parallel course to one of the frigates of the second group now and has opened fire upon-", Aira added but was interrupted by someone else's speech.

"- Are those our units? They must be under attack!"

"Wait", Aira tried to keep calm, "That is not all – The Vaygr fighter is not firing upon any of the frigates... It is firing beyond... into the denser region. Several smaller objects are closing in upon frigates..."

Flashes and short-lived flares enlightened shortly.

"Identification confirmed... The frigates of the second group are friendly units – Our sensors have identified them by their hull-profile. They are under attack by... by missile objects, I presume they are torpedoes. One of the frigates already has suffered severe damage."

"Eh..." Hailynn said confused, "The Vaygr fighter is suppressing attacks upon the Hiigaran frigates?"

"Yes," Aira confirmed, "The first group seems to be Vaygr. At least that is what I can distinguish."

"That is enough. We do not know what the intentions of these Vaygr are, but we must contact the fleeing Hiigarans," the Captain claimed, "Deck Officer Orelis, dispatch our interceptor units, they must protect those frigates at all costs."

"Dispatching!"

Within a minute, Aira counted seven brief rumbles as the small group of mixed fighters disembarked from the _Vjel-Amaj_'s fighter bays.

The adolescent girl anxiously stared at the incoming dangers and their approach to the _Vjel-Amaj _and the rally point. But wait... she began to hear a voice... A deep voice trying to contact the _Vjel-Amaj_. Just by the accent, it was clear that this voice was not Hiigaran... 

""Hiigaran brrrr*cruiser – Higar*rrsssh*n bat*nmmmzzrz*cruiser! Respond immediately!"", this bass voice shouted, distorted by the distance and the rather incompatible transmission frequency.

"What?" her eyes erratically looked around.

The voice was originating from the Vaygr fighter. Hailynn fell slightly into her seat, surprised by the origin of this broadcast.

"- How...? This Vaygr fighter is broadcasting among specific Hiigaran frequencies," one of the female operatives asked and raised one of her eyebrows.

"Anybody could do that," one crewman snitched, "Heck, I'm sure I'm able to hack into Vay-"

Hailynn interrupted as she shook her head, "Negative. According to Kelsea's readings I am seeing here as well, he is broadcasting on our designated military sub frequency, the unique transmission code stated by 'Hiigaran High Command' that was to be used on this rescue mission. There is **no way** he could have known of this..."

"Listen," Aira suggested with a shy tone in her voice as she focused her mind on the signal, clarifying most of its interferences the best she could.  
Remaining silent, the bridge crew carefully listened to the deep and double-toned voice of the Vaygr pilot calling:  
"hrrrg-aaran battlecruiser! Our situation is critical! There is no time for explanations but under no circumstance should you fire upon the frigates. Both groups are *pause* under my lead and are being pursued by long-range torpedo attacks launched by hostile AI-controlled Vaygr units. I repeat, we require immediate assistance to protect the group from pursuing hostilities! Hiigaran battlecruiser, please respond!""

Puzzled faces...  
"_Battle_-cruiser?" somebody asked, "Did he just say 'battlecruiser'?"  
"This is either a very good plan made by the Vaygr or the most confusing evac mission we are ever to take on..." someone of the crew said with crossed arms.

"Captain. Commander," the fleet coordinator called out, "Our units are requesting orders on what to do upon visual contact. Squadleader Alpha One is not sure of their objective - and sir, she is a bit... annoyed -" he added, yanking the ear piece away as he heard the ferocious and dialectic voice of a woman complaining.

"- I will handle this, with your permission, Captain," Hailynn requested.  
Silently confirmed by the nod of the Captain, she immediately reset her headsets for broadcasting:  
""This is -"" coughing and her throat, the at first highly-pitched female voice suddenly sounded more firm, authentic and serious, ""- This is _Commander_ Hailynn Delixa of the _Vjel-Amaj_ responding. Vaygr fighter, we are _aware_ of your intent of ambushing our position. We have detected the Vaygr assault frigates among your group. Do not try to blockade the Hiigaran units or we will-""

Abruptly, the Vaygr pilot's deep and annoyed voice interrupted her speech:

""Listen, 'Lady - Commander' or whoever you are! Are you _blind_, Hiigaran woman?! We are the ones being pursued. Those frigates are NOT military assault units! They are _civilian_ freighters!""

"Wha-" Hailynn said, surprised, and turned herself around, looking up to Aira's station, "Hey Ai' -?!"  
"Uh... I said frigate _class_, only, sir – m-ma'am – Commander... ", the shy girl replied over the intercom.

Hailynn looked around and observed the other faces of the crew. Even the Captain hid his face under his officer's cap... Needless to say that she made a mistake.  
_What an embarrassment..._

"Freighters or not! What are we to do with -", she replied over the open channel with a hesitant voice.  
"We don't have the time for this. I am here for the _sake_ of the Hiigarans and _my_ people!""  
"- but –"  
"I have enough trouble trying to keep these dreaded torpedoes off our backs. The last I need is you and your 'hounds' falling in on _my_ back."

Aira sunk into her seat as she listened to argument going on between the two. She felt a bit responsible for the ongoing squabble between the two... obviously because of her not clearly stating what she discovered.

"- But, hey now -", Hailynn had no chance in interrupting the Vaygr pilot's speech.  
"The fleeing freighters are transporting enslaved people – both Vaygr and Hiigaran. Refugees or slaves - put it the way you like, but their ships are incapable of any farjumping hyperspace transit. We have no time for explanations! They are as good as dead if you are not here to help us! You must allow them to board your ship and get out of here! Heavy Vaygr vessels will arrive for sure if we are to stay too long!"

"You can't be serious!", Hailynn argued back as she slammed her fist against the side of her seat and finally gaining the word in this argument, "A Vaygr afraid of Vaygr?! Why don't you just admit that you are leading your boarding party to us?!" 

"That is enough", the Captain intervened her argument and linked his communication device into the commline:  
"This is the Captain of the _Vjel-Amaj_. Vaygr fighter, against the suspicion of my Sub-Commander – whose concern I respect -, I order all units under my command to escort and support your intention of transferring the refugees to the _Vjel-Amaj_."  
"Huh?", Hailynn could not believe what her Captain announced.  
"We will require time for the freighters to transfer the people to our ship. Until then, we must ensure that no other torpedo attacks are launched upon us."

The Vaygr fighter pilot replied, "I was barely able to stop this wave of pursuing torpedoes. One of the freighters has suffered severe hits. It is still on course but is forced to maintain a lower cruise speed to avoid fluctuations to its internal gravity control. AI-controlled torpedo frigates have followed us to this sector. Their armaments are limited and if I am correct, the last wave of torpedoes will be within range shortly, in approximately 12 to 15 minutes. If your units would support us in time, our chance of survival would be much higher."

"Very well. But despite your intentions for the sake of the refugees, you must understand that we do not trust you fully, Vaygr. Any indication of foul play will result in your destruction. We will engage siege profile to support with high accuracy flak fire."  
"You have my word. *Frrrschhh*" the Vaygr pilot responded.  
The Captain did not seem pleased himself, but he knew that Vaygr never broke their word, no matter how insidious they were.

"F.C.O., have our units understood their new task?", the Captain asked, looking to his right side for a brief moment.

"Squadleader Alpha One confirms the new designated assignment, sir", the fleet coordination officer acknowledged, "She assures that she will keep three units and herself on guard just in case the Vaygr pilot might attempt any _wrong_ or... _suspicious _moves."  
There was a tone of annoyance in his voice as he spoke the last words.

"Marine teams shall relocate themselves to the docking bays as well."

"Sir, I have concerns considering our capability in detaining so many people. We will barely have space for them. Having so many... Vaygr... onboard is not what we have expected, sir. I suggest raising our security level to 'two'", a supervisory military security officer mentioned with a firm voice.

"We do not have much of a choice, Major. However, I am aware of your concerns", the Captain replied, "Your request for S.L.-Two is acknowledged. Hand out light firearms to all crewmembers. If any crewman is free at hand and available, you may add him or her to your security teams."  
The Captain turned his head away from the Major and focused his view slightly to the left, "Commander Delixa?", he called out.

Hailynn, who already hidden herself, half-sunk into her seat in embarrassment, called, "Yes sir?"

"Set a new rally point intercept course to the freighters, we should be able to save valuable time this way."

"I understand. Plotting new course to the newly designated rally point." She sighed.

**- The shade in the mist... -**

Ten minutes later, the _Vjel-Amaj_ is en route to the new rally point, piercing through colorful clouds and tenuous wisps of gas. As the ship approaches the rally point, the bridge crew listens closely to the ongoing reports of their fighters supporting the fleeing freighters. With the fighters able to defend the group from the last volley of torpedoes, the tension and anxiety seems to dissipate throughout the crew, albeit with minor concerns about the Vaygr 'refugees' they were soon to be having aboard the ship.

"_Vjel-Amaj_, this is Squadleader Alpha Two reportin'. Last wave of the torpedoes destroyed. No trouble with the Vaygr fighter. Over."

"Watchin' that Raygr- err, Vaygr, now!", another accented female voice notified over the same channel.

"Copy, Alpha Two… and One *sigh*" the fleet coordinator replied, "Engage escort with the slower freighter until you have reached the _Vjel-Amaj_. The first group of freighters will transfer to our ship now. To all civilian freighter units, do you all comply, over?"

Receiving several confirmations over the commline, more than a few security operatives entered the bridge. Feeling a hand shaking her side, one of the operatives distracted Aira gently.

"Um, yes, sir?" her shy voice asked.

"I have the order to hand out this to all crewmembers, ma'am. Please take it," he said.

Looking down upon his hands, she spotted an ammo clip belt and holster holding a cold black-tinted handgun waiting to be taken by her.

"- but – I don't know how to -"  
"Just take it, it's only a security measure. Just keep it to your side at all times from now on. In case something should happen, ask somebody of the crew how to use it if things should go wrong. I don't think we will have any trouble, but we will maintain a steady awareness."  
Rather shoving the handgun upon her hands, the man climbed down from her station and left her alone. She shivered as handgun laid upon her hands, but just before she about to drop it, she immediately picked it with two fingers and stowed it away inside a very small cabinet to her left side.  
Feeling a rumble once again, she looked around, wondering what that was.

"Latching points locked. The first freighter has docked and is beginning the transfer of their remaining crew."

_Lying back, Aira begins to think that this flight maybe is not all too dangerous as she first assumed. Still staring at the holographic sensor sphere around her, her mind once again wanders, wondering if she would ever return to her distant homeworld._

She knew that the time would come where the _Vjel-Amaj _would leave this system, abandoning all freighters and this gloomy place her soul merely claimed was a mirror for her desire. A depressing feeling, so cold that she curled herself slightly, embracing herself as her thoughts wandered beyond. That very moment the ship would leave this shrouded world would cause her homesickness to fill her soul even worse than before... for she would never see this mysterious beauty again.

_Staring at the centric jade star of the system within her mind, the adolescent girl cowered as the endless deep of the wake remained illuminated by this unusual green star that was encircled by its maelstrom of colorful streams. Her mind sung an ancient and spiritual song..._

Time flew by as she stared at the endless deep of colorful nebulas illuminated by the sun. Several rumbles had already occurred, already showing that several docking procedures have taken place. Once again, she closed her eyes, mentally seeing the vast depth of blue haze that surrounded them. Six of the freighters had been abandoned and only one was left, escorted by the fighters. She sighed. Not that she was bored, but the last ship was closing in on their position. This was probably her last chance to see this phenomenal world. She stared at the dense gaseous streams that were only sixty kilometers away, once again letting her mind wander off, dreaming.

_Aira's imagination wandered off again as she stared upon the distant formations of the deep nebula and the vicinity of the ship_...

Intense and wild they were... with an object moving itself... It did not seem to be an asteroid or any other type of debris... It seemed as a gigantic flat object with a stem, or a pillar, long, with the appearance of a reversed needle, just barely visible among the dense cloud of the nebula – Something was focusing itself at the center of the object, growing larger as it emitted more and more light...

Recognizing the object, her eyes widened as it became clear to her - It was not her imagination!

Aira just made a shocking discovery...


	2. Chapter 2 The Mistrust

Special thanks to Betareader "SOTS" from Fanfiction net, id=1474306

**Chapter 2 – The Mistrust**

_With the discovery of the incredible form hidden within the thickest __region of the nebula, __Aira's mind is held in astonishment, for this divine discovery was not caused by __the__ innermost desire__s__ of her imagination.  
_

Ignorant of what was happening at the edge of the system, the rest of the crew kept calm as they awaited the last slow freighter of refugees to dock. Still escorted by two leftover interceptors of the _Vjel-Amaj _and the Vaygr fighter, the heavily damaged freighter drifted ahead. The enemy AI torpedo frigates had exhausted their magazines and held position, watching from afar as the freighter slowly cruised its way ahead to the rally point of the _Vjel-Amaj_ that was only 15 kilometers away and surrounded by six abandoned large frigates.

Meanwhile, the Captain was not currently on the bridge. The ship's status was now set to Condition Yellow. Though aware of any visible dangers that could appear, things seemed calm for now. Just a moment ago, the Captain ordered Hailynn to assume bridge command as he would make his way to the deck where all the refugees were to be detained.

"Commander Delixa", someone of the bridge crew called out to her, "Alpha One through Four have safely returned," he informed. "According to their status, it looks like they came out of this mess without a scratch."

Letting go of her controls, Hailynn looked over her shoulder, "Understood," and stretched herself arms. Her body was strained from the long and strenuous flight through hyperspace.

"- I hope we will be out of this mess soon," another officer remarked, "and I hope the Hiigaran Navy will pay a decent amount for this mission. The intelligence information was pretty lacking if you ask me. Not even the freelance assignments we took over from the Kiith Somtaaw were this lacking."

"Aye, but it looks like we will be out of this place soon – That is, as soon as that ship would finally dock. Can't that slug fly any faster?"

"Now now..." Hailynn replied calmly and explained, "We will surely learn more of what happened, but all we know for now is that they sustained heavy damage from a single torpedo hit. With our appearance and their despair, the commander of that frigate insisted the others to disband from the group formation for their sake."  
"Well, that explains their slow pace I guess..." the crewman leaned himself against the side of a console, "But that still doesn't explain what is actually going on here. It was said that we were only supposed to extract Hiigarans and then get the frell out. I cannot believe the Captain is actually accepting these Vaygr refugees for transferring onboard. To be honest, I would be surprised if none of them were to be insurgents."

"We can count on our security integrity," the other officer proudly asserted, "I still do wish to know what this assignment is all about. Specifically how this hunt in this forsaken star system actually started and what they will be saying to the Captain."  
Hailynn crossed her arms, her face showing a frown about something she observed on a secondary surveillance screen, "Good point, but we will figure that out, sooner or later. Not only that, it's that Vaygr pilot out there... whom I can't trust. Two years ago, Makaan was defeated and yet we now end up being sent on a rescue mission just to see fleeing Hiigaran freighters with a _Vaygr_ fighter at the lead – who is concerned about the refugees consisting of his and our people... with _Vaygr_ AI-controlled torpedo frigates behind? I don't get who might be behind this with Makaan not even in command of the crusades?"

With a pause, Hailynn and the officer looked at each other, only to conclude their similar thought. With their thoughts leading to the same answer, both simultaneously said, "Remnants."

"This region is not all that 'far away' from Vaygr space, Hailynn. I really don't know what we will do with that Vaygr pilot once the last freighter arrives. Whatever I think, the Amaji Council will know what to do next once we return back to Hiigaran space. This is something political between ours and other Kiithid and I wouldn't want to be in between."

"Call back the two remaining interceptors," she suddenly ordered, "We will see what the Captain decides about that Vaygr fighter later, but the earlier those two dock, the better."

"Will do. How will we perform our retreat once the objective has been completed?"

"Now that you remind me," Hailynn remembered, "I will need to have Aira align the navigation system one more time at least to find the escape route to the least dense region. Excuse me, please." Adjusting her headset and intercom device, Hailynn turned herself back to her station and said, "Aira, this is Hailynn. Could you please align navigation one more time? I require a lead destination to the best area for you to be able to plot the jump out of this system."

There was a brief pause – No answer.

Aira heard the familiar voice, but she was startled. Paralyzed by the divine object hidden among the thickest dust cloud, the gigantic ship shaped like a reversed needle slowly moved away from the dense area...  
A majestic Kadeshi Mothership... with a sphere of pure energy focusing at the center of its bow...

"Aira, do you copy?" Hailynn repeated, messing around with her headset one more time, "Aira?"

The fearful girl shivered, stuttering non-understandable words.

"Ma'am," one of the officers within the bridge called out, shortly interrupting her commline.

"What is it?"  
"I am picking up an unidentified faint reading, radiating from 8 o'clock, angle +67° high, approximately 13 klicks from our position away."

"You sure that is not some asteroid?"

"Ma'am, asteroids do not emit this type of energy naturally."

"What type of energy are you reading?"

"It's a focus of ionized energy... Nothing to worry about since it doesn't resemble to be a hyperspace signature, though."

_Strange_, Hailynn thought. Pressing a few keys on a small screen to her left, she wondered what was wrong with Aira. Insisting to see how she was doing, she set her display to show the girl over camera. Just as Hailynn was about to greet her again, she discovered the girl staring with glassy eyes wide open, for sure under the influence of being mentally connected with the sensory station. _Very strange stuff this Bentusi technology was_, she thought again as she recognized the color of her eyes being differently. Nonetheless, Aira was always capable of reacting to her environment, but this time, her startled face and her pale skin gave Hailynn a cold shiver down her spine...

Turning her head to the officer who informed her about the focused energy, she nervously asked again, "Did you say... ion?!"

**- Despair****... ****-**

Aira suddenly screamed, her voice shouting in such foreign dialect that nobody could understand her. Her sudden scream disturbed the quietness of the bridge as she spoke in agony and despair. Not understanding a word she said, Aira unconsciously spoke desperate pleas to everybody, trying to refer to something out there in space. Unfortunately, her intercom device was not set to outer space communication either. Erratically looking at nearly each crewmember, she tried to tell them something, but they could not understand her as she continued to speak in a very ancient and foreign language.

What ever got her excited, it was definitely serious...

"Get the Captain to the bridge, now! Freighter Seven, Vaygr pilot!" Hailynn shouted immediately, "Scramble immediate-!!!"

Blinded by a sudden flash of light, Aira cowered as a beam of pure energy emitted from the lurking Mothership...

_Too late_.

Without giving any warning, the beam emerged downwards from a very high angle, aiming directly at its target. Nothing could stop it as it pierced through the gaseous medium that existed between them... The already crippled freighter's hull ruptured along its side as the beam violently tore its way through the dorsal portside of the ship. Just barely able to dodge the beam, the Vaygr fighter barely managed to escape the imminent blast wave and countless scraps of busted debris blown everywhere.

Screams were heard as the freighter desperately broadcasted an emergency call, "Th-This is freigh- major explosion! We're under attack! We're under attack! Decompression alert - Stabilizers down," other voices could be heard, some screaming damage reports. "Something just hit the ship! *frrrsschhh*", a burst of static sounded over the comm.

Looking upon the screens viewing the devastating event, the crew of the _Vjel-Amaj _helplessly observed another secondary explosion ravaging the port side of the ship.

Entering the commline, the vaygr pilot shouted, "An ion beam just struck the freighter's port bow! The freighter will not - !"

The freighter pilot interrupted, "This is freighter seven... The engineering deck has just informed..." incomprehensible voices in the background "... me that the beams impact has breached through one of the reactor core's infusion conduits...!"

Astonished by his message, Hailynn shouted, "Jettison the core before it explodes! We can still extract you before -"

"It is too late – Core meltdown is imminent, rescue command," the voice of the freighter pilot called out. Silence filled the bridge of the_Vjel-Amaj _cruiser. The voice spoke further, "We realize we are not going to survive this explo-" ...alert sounds. "For the sake of our people and the lives of the Vaygr refugees, please extract them from this misery and return them to safety. The Vaygr fighter pilot and his people are not our enemy. _Let not prejudice lead your minds._ Do... Do not try to perform any rescue attempts. If our lives are the price for the sake of the others, then we will accept our fate... May the gods of Kharak-"

All went too fast. Fate did not leave them enough time to end their prayers. The transmission ended abruptly as a brief but silent outburst of pure energy occurred. All commline frequencies fuzzed and were immediately terminated with the core's breach. The violent blast wave expanded along with countless parts of debris. Astonished and startled, the crew was still surprised by the sudden attack...

"C-core breach… Freighter seven has been destroyed!" a crewman announced loudly.

"Aira!" Hailynn shouted aggressively, "Where did that beam come from?!"

"From... From..." the girl stuttered.

"Attention, we have a fusion shockwave coming in straight to our ship!" another officer reported.

"To all decks, brace for impact!"

Within seconds and for a long moment, the ship rumbled and quaked as the blast wave and parts of high velocity debris of various sizes knocked against its hull. Luckily, the explosion had not caused any noticeable damage...

_Awoken from the shock, Aira snapped out of her astonishment. The Kadeshi Mothership was now clearly visible to her... along with several smaller objects emerging fast from its hull.  
_  
"Commander Delixa!" somebody shouted, "I am detecting several ultra high frequency beams being focused on our ship... We're being marked!"

"Th-there is something coming towards us... fast..." Aira said quietly to the others.

"What?!"

"Confirmed!" the previous man reported, "Multiple torpedoes inbound. Distance: 9km. Count 12... Correction, 17... 21! "

"For frakking sake, what is attacking us?! Damn it, Aira! Tell us what is out there," Hailynn shouted back.

Hailynn's shout was so intimidating that the adolescent girl became more scared. There was no time for speaking softly, for this situation was very serious.

"It's – Its...!"

"NOW!"

"It is a ship – a Mothership of Kadesh!" Aira said.

Just entering the bridge, the Captain barely understood the last part of the sentence. Despite the reaction of the others, he remained calm, not even showing a slight bit of anxiousness.

"A Kadeshi Mothership?" he asked with a low and calm voice as he made a few steps further into the bridge.

"Yes sir!" Hailynn said, "I will be engaging a course away from this position – but I'm flying blind here, sir!"

"We will not risk any further. To all stations," the Captain called out to everybody, "Code: Black..."

Astonished by his command, Hailynn questioned him, "But sir, Aira informed us that such a retreat would be too dangerous. We might get caught under the influence of the black hole's event horizon!"

"We have no other choice I am afraid. The Vaygr pilot will have to be left behind. He is a Vaygr. He will survive."

Harsh, but true. Vagyrare naturally and physically focused on surviving in deep space just by their own ship.

"Our marine teams will still be able to detain the Vaygr refugees, but as your statement before on this contact, Commander: We cannot trust the Vaygr. It is their nature. There is nothing more we can do in this sector. We must escape before the torpedoes can cause severe damage."

Hailynn, who was for sure the first one to mistrust the Vaygr pilot, suddenly remembered the voice of he freighter pilot and what he said... _Let not prejudice lead their mind_s... but without any other remarks, she replied, "Very well, sir... Announcing **'Code: Black**' to all decks. Prepare for an emergency _Blindjump_!"

A guilty feeling slowly overcame Hailynn's thoughts. Leaving the Vaygr pilot behind to meet his fate disturbed her somewhat.

Aira's body was becoming anxious again... for soon they would be entering the invisible and violent dimension of unknown ether known as hyperspace – she did not know for how long. Tormented by the recent attack and the soon occurring blind hyperjump, the youth grabbed her emblem necklace... squeezing it this time so hard that her hands began to hurt with each pulse.

Only, this blind hyperspace jump would either be rescue or pure death... A danger so threatening that she trembled with each moment that passed by. Aira stared at the Kadeshi Mothership... begging to ask, "_Why_...?"

"The jump will be too sudden for our engineering crew to shut down all systems safely, so expect the core to cause a full powergrid shutdown right at jump initialization. Navigation and wavefront stabilizer will still be online," an engineer reported to the whole ship.  
Following the transmission, Hailynn took word, "Brace for sudden impact! Code: Black will occur in Ten... nine... eight... seven..."

With every second she counted downwards, Aira and the crew began to hear the deep bass trembling of the hyperspace module and began to feel the ship trembling as it began to emit the flux field for tearing a rift between time and space once again...

"six... five... four... three... two ... one... Hyperjump!"

Aira knew exactly what was going to happen next... with each beat pounding just as hard as the ship's rumble... With a last and heavy rumble, the ship shocked with great intense...

*...*, she groaned, and opened her eyes again... The ship immediately stopped rumbling.

Something must have gone wrong....


	3. Chapter 3 The Pursuit

Special thanks to Betareader "SOTS" from Fanfiction net, id=1474306

**Chapter 3 – The Pursuit**

The unusual looking girl was surrounded by a faint darkness that only lasted a few seconds. It was only these seconds that shocked her with a flashback of her past. A moment that once scarred her soul with terror; an event that happened only a few years ago, a moment of horror that occurred every time the blanket of darkness surrounded her.

An endless rush of wind streamed past her body, pulling every strand of her hair towards a certain direction. She felt it... Struggling to breathe, pure death was slowly tearing the air away from her lungs and those of others. So many things swung past; her mind unable to recognize them. Lacking of oxygen, her young body weakened with every struggling breath as she heard the endless screams of choking people. Screams of people gasping for air echoed within her mind. She suddenly fainted... only left with memories of pure terror.

This very _moment _scared her before her eyes slowly spotted some lights illuminating ahead within the bridge on the navigation station.

Her mind fooled her. The screams and cries of agony faded away as she heard voices among her surroundings, voices of others shouting what has happened... She was in safety. The {hard beating of her heart started to slow down again as her breathing calmed down...

"Did we make it to hyperspace?" Officer Orelis asked from somewhere on the bridge.

"You've got to be kidding..." Hailynn snitched and shook her head, "Obviously, you haven't noticed the lack of rumbling."

All speech ceased as her voice spoke up, "...We have a problem...!"  
"Explain, Sub-Commander," the Captain ordered; his voice unusually calm.

Aira eavesdropped the voices ahead, "We are still in normal space, sir!" Hailynn replied loudly with a surprised expression, "Navigation is still online, as 'Chief' said, but I am totally blind without sensory!"

"Ma'am, sensory will come back online in a few seconds," another one of the bridge operatives remarked, "Our sensor operative should be able to support you shortly – but Captain, I must remind you that -!"  
"Yes, I am aware of this," the Captain replied with a firm voice before straightening his view ahead, "We are still in danger..."  
"Torpedoes are still inbound for sure! Awaiting obs' to come back online to state their positions again, sir," another voice shouted from somewhere within the darkness of the bridge.  
"Engineering, Chief Brogan!" Hailynn called out through her headset, "Damage report! What is going on? Did the module suffer damage from the blast wave at all?"

With a short buzz, Chief Engineer Brogan's voice was heard over all speakers as he explained: "Bridge, the hyperspace module is fully operational. Something else has caused the wavefront field to collapse – It was neither caused by any malfunction of the ship nor by the explosion of the freighter, over!"  
"We need power asap, Chief!"  
"Should only take a moment, ma'am! We're on it. Engineering, over and out!"

"Why are we still in this place..." Hailynn wondered.

Aira looked down, she needed to not think about what has happened. Her past experience gave her the explanation... The very soft female voice spoke a few words, at first not heard by others.

Aira's voice spoke up, "E-Everybody, I know what caused this. I know why we are still ...here."

The bridge went quiet again as they heard the girl speaking.

"The M'gresh- eh I mean... The Kadeshi Mothership... I-It is responsible for the cause... Just moments before, I sensed a strange feeling," the unusual shy girl explained, "It enveloped me... a disturbing field just before our attempt... It was as if we were near... a planetary object emitting a gravity field... "

As the girl spoke, she emotionally sensed the field merely squeezing her.

Shocked by Aira's explanation, Hailynn needed to hear no more as she shouted, "Captain, it's a hyperspace inhibitor field!"  
"Indeed", he replied, "An artificial gravity well... It must be the same field encountered once by the _Pride of Kharak_."  
"Sir, the _Vjel-Amaj _should be able to 'outrun' that Mothership. We could still -"  
"-That would not stop the mothership from launching another volley of torpedoes upon us, Commander."

With a short pause, the Captain took this moment to make a decision. Meanwhile, several stations, including Aira's, went back online.

"...Maintain status 'Code: Black'," the Captain ordered. His words confused the others.  
"B-But sir, the hyperspace module is unable to generate the wavefront to enter hyperspace... How are we to -" Orelis remarked.  
"Officer Orelis, remember, the _Vjel-Amaj _is a hybrid cruiser. The Bentusi blessed this ship with technology to our advantage. Our ship should still be able to perform a Phasejump..."

"Phasejump, sir?"

"Yes, Phasejump..." Hailynn continued, explaining what the Captain meant, "One of the more or less... experimental propulsion systems concealed within the hyperspace module of the cruiser. To cut things short: It's nothing more than a short-range jumper... I doubt we can really plot any course but I approve the captain's suggestion – I just never thought we needed to use it... –"  
"- until now", the Captain added, "If we are to survive this, then our only chance is to escape the enemy. Officer Orelis, contact Engineering for the preparation of the Phasejump ."  
"Aye, sir…" 

A frightened shout is heard from Aira, "W-We are in danger! The Needleship is focusing on our position!"

Turning herself around, the female commander looked beyond her seat. Hailynn never saw this girl so excited – so scared. Whatever it was - it had to do with her past. She knew that for sure.

"Please, we must escape!" the girl cried.

"This is Engineering! Bridge, as ordered, the phasedrive is charging – but it will require time! Confirmation of its completion will follow when ready! Over and out!"

"Calm down, Aira," the firm voice of the Captain said, "Sub-Commander, engage an escape route! We must clear the opening made from the explosion and re-enter the denser regions immediately. It should protect us from direct targeting. Apply erratic flight profile to avoid any chance of getting hit by ion beam attacks."  
"Yes sir! Engaging new course heading – Erratic flight profile," Hailynn replied and focused herself on her controls.

The controls of the _Vjel-Amaj _were in her hands. Though her field of view was filled with endless fields of blue clouds around, her guidance system was still able to reveal a course away from the incoming dangers. Engaging the system's thrust control, the ship vibrated as its powerful fusion thrusters ignited once again.

Officer Orelis suddenly spoke, "Sir! Torpedoes are inbound and have bypassed the 3km barrier. Six o'clock, very high!"  
"Confirmed, the torpedoes have gained quite a speed and are closing in fast!" another operative from the observatory added.

"Captain – Our point defense system will utterly be useless against such fast moving target with these interferences among our ship! I suggest dispatching our fighters one more time to repel the attacks!" the fleet coordinating officer shouted out.

"Denied, F.C.," the Captain refused his suggestion, "Our priority is to escape this sector as soon as possible. Dispatching units would only delay our escape. If we are too -"

"Hailynn!" Aira shouted, "Turn the ship _away_ from the left, hurry!"

"What?"

"Do as she said, Commander – _hard to starboard_!" the Captain commanded loudly, trusting the words of Aira.

Surprised but eager, Hailynn pulled her right hand as far as she could along with the pairs of pedals adjusted to her intentions and as she took actions, the ship immediately responded to her movements. Feeling the motion slightly due to the artificial gravity field being only slightly out of phase, the ship flew a sharp curve to its right side.

"Could somebody tell me what this is all a-!" Hailynn shouted, but then heard a short alarm that caught her attention. A long object just barely missed the ship's left bow as she saw it bypassing along one of her screens, "-bout?!"

The object on her screen suddenly flew a very long curve, disappeared into one of the denser clouds and reemerged from it, unable to catch its momentum due to its high velocity. Astonished by the sudden attack they barely dodged, Hailynn shouted, "What was that?!"

"It was a torpedo, ma'am! *eh* and we're lucky its proximity warhead did not respond though being so close..." an operative explained, sighing how lucky they were.  
"How is that possible! The volley you reported should still be at least 2.5km away from our position! Was it cloaked or -?!"  
"- It is coming around!" Aira shouted.

Indeed, the high velocity torpedo shortly disappeared within a thick cloud again and again it appeared from it, focusing on a direct course to the _Vjel-Amaj_. But this time, its opportunity of landing a hit along the broadside of the ship was a lot greater than its first hideous attempt since this time it was approaching nearly from the same horizontal plane.

"Hailynn! Evasive maneuvers! Orelis, immediately activate the PDS!" the Captain commanded loudly, not as calm as usual.

"Our conventional defensive systems are unable to target the incoming object – but we will do the best as we can," the officer replied and grabbed his headset, "Fire control. Engage erratic firing mode. Maximum spread!"

Tension was filling the air.

Just before the defensive systems of the _Vjel-Amaj _focused upon the incoming danger, a violent explosion occurred just to the right side of the ship. Suddenly, a garbled but somewhat familiar deep voice was heard among an open frequency. It was the voice of the Vaygr fighter pilot:

"Hiigaran Cruiser! I was able to destroy the torpedo that was about to strike your starboard side! Attention, the pursuing ship is using ellipse torpedoes! Prepare for incoming concealed torpedo attacks from all flanks! I am glad you managed to detect it before it struck upon your hull! Do not worry about my status. My fighter has sustained damage from the freighter's explosion but I still am able to maintain control..."

Hailynn looked to her right as she saw the Vaygr fighter dashing past the ships side, followed by a smoking black stream of its damaged thrusters and trails of clouds spreading away. Multiple ticks and thuds were heard... only chunks of debris from the destroyed torpedo bouncing against the hull, luckily its warhead already destroyed.

The Captain slammed his fist upon his chair, "Flankers... The enemy is trying to fool us with its direct-fire torpedoes!"

"Sir?" 

The Captain explained shortly, "That Needleship knows we are practically blind. It knew we were only able to detect the volley because of the open field caused by the freighter's blast wave. It knew we would not be able to detect any flanking objects – That is... Our sensor operator just barely saved us from suffering a dangerous dorsal hit upon the ship..."

Aira remained quiet, she was too shy to say a word.

Shortly rubbing his face, the Captain leaned back into his seat.

"Aira – Concentrate. Concentrate on our vicinity. We are unable to detect anything with conventional sensory arrays," the Captain demanded.  
"Huh?"

"We're counting on _you_ on this one, Ai'," Hailynn added, "You're my eyes!"

The responsibility was becoming too much for this young girl. With the pure anxiety flowing through her body, she took a look upon the blue holographic sphere that surrounded her, anxiously trying to spot whatever thing might appear. But trusting her eyes was not going to be enough; it was her body and soul that could sense objects in space – and yet, she wondered how she was to do it for she was still a young entity with limited skills.

The _Vjel-Amaj_ continued to fly ahead at a high speed, piercing into unknown regions and countless fields and layers of blue clouds, barely dodging the attacks of single torpedoes. The Kadeshi Mothership, though massive, still kept upon the trail, high above and several kilometers away from the smaller Amaji cruiser that tried to escape.

Within moments, the crew of the bridge suddenly heard multiple alert sounds. The sound of incoming danger...  
"Torpedoes have just bypassed the k-one barrier!" Officer Orelis reported, referring that the torpedo volley has crossed the 1 kilometer perimeter and is within the red zone...

"Another hidden object is coming from the right! This time a bit higher than before!" Aira shouted loudly.

"Dive – DIVE!", the Captain commanded.

Taking action, Hailynn pushed both controls forward as hard as she could and invoked a roll to intensify the dive angle. Only able to see her guidance display showing the vertical angle designators spinning at a moderate rate, she was nonetheless navigating totally _blind_.

"Hiigaran Cruiser! Providing covering fire!" the Vaygr fighter pilot's voice transmitted.

Firing with its special mass driver weaponry, the Vaygr fighter fired a constant stream of shots into the deep blue clouds.

"What is he doing?!" one of the bridge operatives asked, "We can hardly target a thing out here! So why is -"

"Captain!" Orelis shouted - surprised - "Detecting multiple explosions among the dense regions – The – The Vaygr fighter is defending our ship by providing covering fire and has already destroyed a few of the incoming torpedoes!"  
"It seems as if our 'ally' possesses better pinpoint-sensors than our ship..." the Captain presumed, "-No offense, Aira."

"...?"

"Sir, fire control and our 'supporter' won't be able to provide sufficient covering fire for the last groups of heavy torpedoes!"

"Bridge, this is Engineering. We have completed preparations for the initial Phasejump. With the help of Sensory, Navigator Delixa should be able to plot a jump into safety. Engineering, out."

"We just might be able to get out of this mess after all," the Captain said to himself and then rose his voice, "Delixa, Aira, you heard Engineering. Commence the phasejump as soon as possible."

"Yes sir!" Hailynn confirmed and turned herself back to front, slightly smiling devilish somewhat, "They won't be stopping us this time!"

"H-Hailynn," Aira called out, "I am totally blind. Absolutely no visible stars – "  
"Don't worry, Ai' – If we get out of this region and the trouble, we'll be jumping afterwards into safety in no time! We're blind, but not dead yet! Blindjump!"

Just as she ended her over-euphoric sentence, she looked aside and saw the damaged Vaygr fighter further away still firing into the dense clouds. Again, Hailynn stared upon that screen, startled about the pilot. If their first jump attempt in escaping had been a success, the future of their lifesaver would have been left behind... Somehow, feelings of guilt were overwhelming her thoughts. Clearing her throat, the Hiigaran woman came to decision.  
""Vaygr fighter – This is Commander Delixa of the _Vjel-Amaj_! We will be performing a jump out of this dreaded region! I want you to -"

""What are you talking about, Hiigaran? Haven't your crew noticed the inhibitor field filling this whole sector?"  
"For the sake of your people, Vaygr, just _trust us_ this time! No time for explanations! Get -"

"I don't know how you have the chance to escape through a jump but do it now! There is no way I will be able to dock with these torpedoes coming straight for us! _Do not worry about me_…"

"Commander, he is right," Orelis added, "Our fighter bay is inappropriate and only supports space for Hiigaran fighters. The Vaygr fighter is too large – not to mention, incompatible for docking!"

"Fifty seconds," Aira said over the commline to Hailynn, reminding her that the time was already running.

Taking the mentioned words in account, Hailynn shouted:  
"There is still a possibility! Get your fighter as close as possible to our hull! If you can get to within 40 meters, you will be enveloped by the same field that would bring us out of here!"

A moment of silence...

"There is no need for heroism in staying behind, Vaygr! You have 30 seconds to get here - Just get here to us here, NOW!"  
"- I'm on my way, but don't expect any sorry..." the Vaygr pilot announced.  
"What the frell did he mean with _that_ phrase?"

**- Three... -**

Having difficulties, the Vaygr fighter altered his course directly to the _Vjel-Amaj_, while being chased by the field of torpedoes coming straight in for them. Gaining a head start, the fighter made its way like an arrow piercing through the clouds.  
"Hailynn," Aira said, "The Vaygr fighter seems to have accepted your words and is almost here."

Taking a look at the time for the jump to occur, the Vaygr pilot only had approximately 20 seconds left. There was a moment of silence albeit the anxious atmosphere present within the bridge.

"Did he make it?" somebody asked... just before a very loud '**DONG**' sound occurred as an intense vibration was felt throughout the whole ship.

"Hiigarans – I have done as you said and am as close as I could get with my damaged fighter."

"He'll _pay_ for that!" Hailynn remarked loudly but then took a look at the time. The timer just entered the last 10 second bracket. At the same time, the waves of torpedoes were dangerously closing in on their position. Worried like never before, she became anxious like the others – other than the cool-minded Captain – as the torpedoes entered the last few hundred meters.

It was a going to be a close call...

"SEVEN... SIX...!" Hailynn's voice announced.

Aira herself already felt her body getting more anxious. Two of the officers kept announcing the position and distance of the volley of torpedoes that were about to strike upon the ship. Throughout the whole ship, humming vibrations were soon to be heard, increasing with each bypassing second.

"FIVE...!"

"FOUR...!"

Without any warning, a sudden and very slight shock impact was felt throughout the ship. For a split second, everything turned black and white for the kushan eye and then returned to its normal color.

Totally surprised, Hailynn at first continued -

"THREE... t-two... 'wo... ???"

Astonished faces. A few shouted, thinking that the torpedoes have struck... embarrassingly. Hailynn turned herself and looked at the bridge crew...

"Did we... 'jump'?" she asked, having trembling hands.

"You've got to be kidding..." Orelis snitched back at her.

Unable to respond to the same unexpected remark she told him back then, she stayed quiet, only throwing an annoyed facial expression...


	4. Chapter 4 Off Duty

Special thanks to Betareader "SOTS" from Fanfiction net, id=1474306

(A narrative voice speaks as your eye focuses on the most edge of hiigaran territorial space)  
Born generations after the planet fall upon Hiigara, the Kiith Amaj is a young Kiith, unlike those originating on Kharak. Unlike the others, whose powers reach throughout Hiigaran space, the Kiith Amaj only consists of seven grouped star systems each represented upon the Kiith's emblem, and the naval segment authority following the will of the Kiith. Independency and unification, for which this Kiith stands, is the main trait of its existence. Disregarding any heritage, the Kiith Amaj is proud to welcome and embrace those who are willing to join, no matter if those who wish to join are descendants of other Kiithid or not – should they be Sobaani, S'jeti, Gaalsieni... or even _Manaani._

Yet none would ever believe how such a small Kiithid would possess such significance as of today, for they possess a unique connection with the enigmatic Bentusi, much closer than the prominent Somtaaw – as a thankful reward for supporting the Bentusi on many dangerous occasions- who formerly would only respond to the presence of Karan S'Jet or the Kiith Somtaaw...  
(End of narration)

-----------------------------------

**Chapter 4 – Off-Duty **

= Somewhere within the M'randara Nebula=

Alone. Surrounded by the endless regions of clouds and the beautiful but mysterious wakes, it is Aira who is encircled by this somewhat strange feeling. Ever was she to hope to see something alike her homeworld in her life and finally, it happened - Yet the distance view of the shrouded sun now, glowing in a different color, enclosed by the never-ending prismatic fields of colorful nebulas left her soul in fear. As she stared upon the structure, memories once again filled her mind... A tale... A tragedy.

- "_Is it you, Rahji, the one who lost its love one_?" –

The silence of space remedied her fear as she closed her eyes.

She was in safety... and the terror of her past faded away. But it was her ears that began to hear something.

A faint cry... A faint plea... distant and far beyond...

**- Invitation... -**

Slightly unease, Hailynn looked upon all her screens, only able to see nothing but low detailed displays of the region that surrounded her. All screens only showed nothing more than a circle representing the systems sun and an object very close to ship, representing the Vaygr fighter. Noticing her discomfort, the Captain raised his head and demanded with a simple voice, "Report."

"My surveillance systems are on minimal focus, sir. I don't think I can confirm that we 'phasejumped' out of danger – but... I can't see any incoming danger either. - Or maybe we did clear the region?"

"Don't worry, ma'am," Officer Orelis announced, "All surveillance systems will return very shortly. As far as I can say, Captain, I am able to confirm that the ship is no longer marked by any hostile guidance emitters."  
"Confirmed," an observatory operative added, "No guidance markers or any sort of artificial radiation emitters detected."

Giving out their reports, every bridge operative spoke one after another:

"Engineering, all green. Phasedrives are on cooldown, sir. Only minor instability in the power grid, but nothing our maintenance crewmen can't handle," one female officer reported.  
"Fire control sees nothing more than the Vaygr fighter out there."  
"Sickbay reports only negligible injured casualties that occurred during the blast wave impact. Other than that, both marine teams and medical personnel are treating the 'refugees' under custody. The supervisory officer is requesting your orders as well, sir. "

"No damage sustained," the last officer announced.

"Other than the dent the Vaygr made..." Hailynn muttered inwardly.

More voices filled the bridge. Despite the many voices around her, Hailynn, who tried to contact Aira over her intercom, only heard the girl's voice whispering, speaking in a totally different language – that strange language, for sure. Yet, the girl did not respond at all. She only kept whispering. Before the Hiigaran woman spoke up, her screens immediately caught her attention as they rebooted, once again filling her screen with data and a currently distorted live-feed visual of the ships surroundings. With the main screen and the secondary ones of the bridge beginning to focus, the whole bridge crew stared at them, waiting to see what they would reveal.

As the screens aligned with all sensory systems, the crew finally was relieved from the tension.

"Unbelievable... The 'phasejump' was a... success, after all. But..." Hailynn said, but then her voice dropped.  
"What is it, Sub-Commander?" the Captain asked.  
"I am unable to verify our position by myself, but just by judging by heart, I am afraid we have blind-jumped several HUs closer to the systems sun... only deeper into the shrouded regions... We are still... lost."  
"Hey, the sun changed its color, too," somebody called.  
"You're right..." she replied.  
"Heads up, Commander," the Captain replied, "Despite our blind navigation, we are cleared of the hostile Kadeshi Needleship that ambushed our units."

Remaining quiet for the moment, Hailynn thought about the words of her captain. He was right. The Needleship was capable of destroying the _Vjel-Amaj_, but they did manage to escape. The least success next to the successful initialization of the rather experimental phasejump...

Aira spoke further, still whispering to herself. She has seen the exact formation of streams among the sun more than once in her life, but never was she in this star system. Why was her mind feeling aware of this? Her view resembled the same structure of the symbols in her past... Did she find Rahji, the lost? She was too young to remember... but her mind nonetheless made her whisper the tragic tale that even caused a tear to run down her cheek. Again, she heard that distant cry... That cry coming from the very deep of the endless shrouds...

Worried about Aira, Hailynn requested to leave her station. Allowed to leave, Hailynn detached herself from the seat harnessers and other systems and pressed a few keys at her side of her seat, causing it to slowly retain itself from her station, giving her more space to lift herself. Just as she rose herself, she felt weariness from sitting so long for endless hours along with a hiccup, coming from the side effect of the pills she took. Making her way passed the stations of others and captain's chair, she looked up at Aira's station that resided at a higher position at the center of the bridge.

The blue holographic sphere and layers of other untouchable pictures and clouds surrounded the girl. Her lips were still moving...

Just what was wrong with her? Hailynn thought, and made her way up to her, taking the integrated ladder as a quick way to get up to her spot rather than taking the slipway on foot on the other side, and shook her. Still not responding, Hailynn spotted a crystal drop reflecting the light upon her cheek.

A single tear.

The girl's eyes did not blink at all. Hailynn's head poked through the many layers of the holograms and observed first at what this strange girl was looking at before looking upon her.

This was the first time that Hailynn took a good look at this girl. She had not really been able to take a detailed look at her before. Aira, being rather smaller than Hailynn, was probably the most strangest looking girl she and the crew have ever met. Hidden below her hair fringe were strange looking plates, right at the borderline of her hair upon her forehead. Her hair had a strange tone, rather paler than blond. Despite its color, her hair was silky, straight and gently held by unusual 'clams' causing the hair to flow further behind her neck.  
With the unusual color of her eyes, Hailynn spotted the strange but beautiful markings, something like tattoos, along the side of her face.  
Looking slightly down, Hailynn's eyes wondered about this girl. For the past three months, this girl was the most important person of the crew and yet, she did not wear the common service uniform of such. Instead, she wore a beautiful robe, riddled with many symbols and patterns of her heritage. Up to now, Hailynn still did not know how old this girl was. Just simply judging the development of this girl, she was not really a 'very young girl' but more of a young adolescent on the cusp of being a 'young woman', somewhere at the age of 17 years.

Only staring back at Hailynn, Aira's glare at the holographic sun and the clouds around seemed to have full control of her. She kept on speaking as if she were under trance. Removing Aira's hands from the orbs, Hailynn then laid her hand upon the girl's cheek, then rubbed it slightly.

Shocked by surprise, Aira woke up from her trance, her mind mentally freed from the system – Feeling a familiar warmth upon her cheek with her back leaning upon the seat as she only saw the head of Hailynn poking through the holo-sphere ...

"H-Hailynn? W-Why are you here?" the lost girl asked.  
"Heh – I should be the one asking, girl. What were you talking about? Who is this... 'Rahji'?"

Aira lowered her face...  
"I cannot... explain, really," the girl responded, shy of speaking to her.  
"Well, don't worry, I'm sure we -" Hailynn speech was disturbed by the deep voice of a transmission emitting from one of the speakers.

From the intercom, Hailynn heard one of the female operatives wanting to talk to her, "Captain. Commander Delixa, Ma'am, it's the Vaygr pilot requesting to speak with us. What should I do?"

"Go ahead," the Captain added, "I'll leave it to you, Commander Delixa."  
"Yes, sir. Patch him through over the bridge's speakers and my intercom, Averin. Thanks," Hailynn said and looked away from Aira, her face aimed at the speakers from her spot.  
"Yes ma'am - Done. – Attention, Vaygr pilot, we are listening, you may speak."

Again, the deep voice of the Vaygr pilot spoke somewhat distorted by his damaged communication system:  
"Hiigaran Cruiser... It looks like we have escaped. I am... impressed. One mighty ship you have there..."  
"Vaygr pilot," Hailynn called out as she stood next to Aira's seat, "Yes, we are clear of all hostilities..."

Hailynn paused, not knowing what else to say. Just by staring at the one of the screens, questions began to fill her mind.

Who was this man?  
Why was he here?  
Why was all of this happening?

"Err, ma'am?" the communication operative asked, wondering why she paused.

"What is wrong, 'Lady Commander'? Something... breath-taking, I assume... I know what is wrong..." the Vaygr pilot continued, breaking the silence.

Hailynn took a deep breath.

"You are asking yourself... What is this all about?" he asked, speaking slowly.

A few of the bridge operatives turned their heads, looking upon the female commander as she stood high above at Aira's station. Hailynn did not know what to say.

"...Needless to say how one Hiigaran could be at unease with so many Vaygr onboard.""  
"Enough," Hailynn demanded, "Yes. I do. I want to know what this is all about."

"That 'Hiigaran curiosity' once again wanting to uncover secrets," the deep distorted voice spoke over the commline, "I am willing to answer. Yet my fighter has sustained moderate damage..."

The memory dashed shortly through her mind, remembering the Vaygr fighter leaving a trail of smoke along its path.

"One moment, Vaygr fighter. Stand-by," Hailynn said and pressed one of the buttons on her shoulder-radio unit, causing the commline to be held on stand-by. Looking down at one of the technician officers as she leaned her body against the railing, she made an annoyed face and shook her head, "..."

"What is it, ma'am?" communication operative Averin asked, "Is something bothering you?"  
The superior commander looked down at both the communication operative and one of the technicians, still with a somewhat disgruntled expression.

"I can't believe what I am about to do," she replied and rubbed her face, "Captain, with your permission, I would like to –"  
"Granted," was all what the Captain said, not even turning himself up to her. Alas, it seemed as if he expected her to ask what he already sensed.  
"Am I _that_ predictable?" She sighed, and cleared her throat, "I remember one of you saying that the Vaygr fighter were too large for it do dock onboard?"

One of them nodded, "Yes ma'am. Our fighter bay and hangar actually only provides capacity and compatibility for Hiigaran strikecrafts. I don't see _any_ chance of that fighter docking. It would not even fit through the launching bay. I don't know but if you ask me -"

"No wait. There _might_ be a way," another one of the technicians added and explained his thoughts: "Look. The ship has three primary mineral storage bays... and two secondary cargo bays – having one almost over-filled with the refugees. The other cargo bay is stored with equipment, but it is large enough for a fighter of such size to dock. We would require a while to relocate all the gear and a bit of help considering cabin pressure control, but it just might work. His fighter should be able to dock through the belly or dorsal side of cruiser and can be loaded into the junction between the bays. Once we have the junction's access gateway locked, we can re-pressurize and load him to cargo bay II. I'm sure we can even maintain his fighter there with the space provided there."

"Wha- you've got to be out of your mind. What if this is some suicide attempt just to blow up the ship from the inside -?" the other technician snitched.

"Don't be silly," the other one who suggested the idea replied and shrugged with his shoulders, "That Vaygr doesn't seem to intend killing his own people. And hey, I'm not the crazy person who asked, y'know... err." 

Again, the few slowly turned their heads back up to Hailynn, who was still leaning against the railing with an embarrassed expression.

"-Eh, sorry ma'am. I mean."

"No. You're right", she sighed again and lowered her eyes briefly. Shaking her head, she focused her view upon the screen of the Vaygr fighter floating in space, "But I want to know what this is all about. I already assume this man will only talk once he is allowed to dock. Proceed with all preparations for this...unusual... docking procedure for the Vaygr fighter."

"Yes ma'am. We will need quite some time but we should make it."  
"Will do. Contacting crewmen for support," the other man announced.  
"I will contact a few of the marines," the female communication operative added, "I'm sure a few can be sent to the bay for security measures."

Hailynn's mood raised itself slightly. She knew that becoming a commander of a ship was never going to be an easy task, but she nonetheless smiled shortly as she watched the officers getting to work. Looking back the Vaygr fighter upon the large main screen to left, she used her right hand to reopen the channel by pressing the same key upon the radio-unit of her left shoulder and called out:  
"Alright, Vaygr fighter. This is the plan."

"I am listening..."

"To maintain your fighter, we wish you to board the cruiser and also explain what this 'situation' is all about."

"I understand your 'curiosity', Hiigarans. But how is that to work? With all due... respect... but I now also see that my fighter is larger than your 'puny' fighter bay."  
Hailynn smiled shortly again, a bit over-proud, "We are working on 'preparations' to adapt to the docking of your fighter. We will need some time for that. When we are done, one of my officers will contact and guide you through the docking procedure. "

"I understand. 'Only the enduring shall be rewarded'. I await your call, Hiigarans."

With the sound of Vaygr pilot ending the transmission, Hailynn lifted herself from the railing. He was a mysterious man indeed.

"Lady? Commander Delixa?" somebody asked from below again, but this time on the other side. Being called for her attention, Hailynn walked around Aira's station to the other side and looked down beyond the railing.

It was one of the lead miners onboard the _Vjel-Amaj _of Kiith Paktu heritage. Easily distinguished that he was a miner, just by seeing him wearing the common jumpsuit for miners, he and his subordinates belonged to the ship's mining service unit for the extraction of any source of mineral in space. The mining stock market always offered many opportunities for any Kiithid in financing practically anything just by trade. The mining crew onboard belonged to a company not really known to Hailynn. She only knew that this company was well-spread among Hiigaran space and probably beyond. Despite the military agenda onboard, these people were independent considering their intentions...

"Greetings, Asad. How may I help you?" she asked down to him.  
"One of our scientists has detected a class '7'mineral strain region situated approximately 4100km away from our position! Our coupled hyper-wavelength telescopes were able to reach that far through this dense region with the aid of sensory."

"Class seven _what_??" she asked, though not sounding interested.  
"Yes," he confirmed and gave a grin, "A 'high density yield' – in other words, a mineral rich field of energy... Just waiting... to be _harvested_."

"Well, hmm, we are clear of danger for now, but I am still worried about that... Kadeshi 'Needleship'. We have yet to confirm our position and if you ask me, I do not want to meet that thing again. With all this trouble that happened, I do prefer to get out of here as soon as the hyperdrive module has replenished itself from the recent jump."

"Lady, please. I know our objectives were to rescue and extract those in need of help - but now that we have them safely onboard, I do insist we should fill the our storages. It would be highly _profitable_ for our 'finances'... Only the _stupid_ would ignore it."

_Damn, you Paktu, Nabaali and LiirHralis_, she thought, _Greedy for credits and all what use can be found from those fields_.

"For the sake of 'Amaj' and respect to you, Asad. I _don't_ think we will survive another inhibitor trap if we stumble upon another Kadeshi ship."

"I mean - c'mon, Missy. It's for _our_ Kiithid-, ya know."

Already tripping the wire by being 'disrespectful' to her, Hailynn began to become annoyed by his requests. He was right that ship needed to be maintained over their own finances, but it was the sheer danger in this star system that disturbed her greatly. This was a really bad time to be flying on a sightseeing tour through this 'place'. Bringing one argument after another, Hailynn found no way into pleasing the man's request, who even ignored what happened to one of the freighters just a single hour ago . Needless to say, this conversation was about to burst into a loud verbal argument...

"-but right now we don't have the need to be flying across the galaxy just to pick up some gravel and get us killed!" Hailynn argued down to him.  
"Oh yeah - sure! As if the Hiigaran navy - bless S'jet – were going to pay enough credits other than a simple 'Thank _you_. Very kind of _you_. Get lost _you_'!"

"You can't be serious, Asad! Do you even know what the frell happened to one of those freighters..."  
"Um...NO!"  
"That frakking Kadeshi Mothership blew it away with a frakking focused ION beam!"  
"Well! – Then – But the Mothership ain't out there anymore! We escaped it!" 

"ngh!" Hailynn grunted loudly as she slammed her fist against the railing.

"Both of you, cease arguing!", the Captain's voice demanded.

Both immediately stopped. She breathed a few times, calming down... slowly.

"Commander Delixa, I understand your concerns – and I, too, have the same – but we are in safety, nonetheless. Delixa, over the meantime, the _Vjel-Amaj _will still be capable of escaping through a second 'phasejump', should we ever be compromised again. As of your request, Dr. Asad, permission will be granted."

Clapping his hands once together with a big grin, Dr. Asad replied with sleazy gratitude in his voice, "Thank you _very_ much, Captain! You all won't regret it, _that's_ for sure. Now if you will –excuse meh-" Dr. Asad said up to Hailynn victoriously, "I need to spread the good news and have the resource collectors and crew be ready for the job."

Hailynn sunk her head between her shoulders.

_That guy is going to kill us... Oh why is the captain always on 'their' side...  
_  
The Captain continued his speech, "Though I do not like the idea of staying here too long in this system, I wish the _Vjel-Amaj _to relocate itself to the designated energy fields for mining extraction with cruise flight IV after the Vaygr fighter has completed the alternative 'docking sequence'. With cruise flight IV, we should only require approximately 10 hours to our destination. With this speed, we should be able to escape any inconveniences, should they emerge from hyperspace or elsewhere. Delixa, you must understand that leaving this place empty handed is not good. We have already depleted much of our stored resources just to reach this system on schedule. We are capable of returning but we would still require to harvest resources on the way back."

Having the Captain's word over hers, she was not willing to object his order.  
"As you command, Captain, I will return to my station and –" she replied with a silent sigh.

"Negative", he interrupted.

"Huh?"

"I want all of you to be replaced by the next shift as soon as possible," the Captain demanded suddenly.

Many surprised faces turned themselves over to the Captain's spot. He continued with his explanation, "Never should your physical health exceed the limits unnecessarily... "

"Sir? I do not understand?"

"All of you have been awake and on-duty over more than four shifts ever since we have been assigned to this operation. All of you have willed yourselves to receive inhibitor pills to keep your senses fully focused over the time. I cannot allow this to continue. The result would be devastating to your health."

Many people of the bridge looked at him, wanting to say something, but instead, they looked up at Hailynn who for sure knew what was best for them. Just as Hailynn was about to say something, the Captain's words caused her mind to think about it. The others and she have been awake as he said beyond 24 hours, excluding Aira, who however still had very rough times at resting during the long flight of the hyperjump. The rush for rescue caused them to exceed the limit by taking treatments – but now that they have somewhat completed the assignment, there was not any need any more to worried about.

"You all deserve rest," the Captain added.

She was about to say something, but the Captain interrupted her, "Don't worry about me. I do not require any sleep or food right now. A skeleton bridge-crew should be able to maintain the ship and command as we venture to the mineral extraction point. Engage condition yellow as well."

The Captain had always been a strange man she never understood...

"Very well, sir. Everybody, you heard the order," she replied to everybody within the bridge.

Seeing nearly everybody raising themselves, a large portion of the crew saluted to their Captain before they left the bridge. It only took a short while until a small number of new faces entered the bridge, taking over several primary stations of the ship.

"Well, Aira," Hailynn said with a sigh and turned over to her, "I guess you'll be coming with me. Permission to leave the bridge."

"Granted, of course."

Aira began to feel worried as she heard the man they called 'Captain' wanting them to leave the bridge. She did feel slightly tired, but she was indeed afraid of leaving her station. She hesitated as Hailynn offered her an open hand to help her out.

"Don't be shy, girl."  
Reaching out, her hand softly touched Hailynn's, who then helped her up and through the layers of the holographic displays and sphere. 

With a slight surprise, the Captain suddenly asked, "Delixa? Does Aira have her sidearm?"

Looking at the girl again, Hailynn did not spot any holster on the sides of her hip, "Err, no sir."  
"Aira, please. Take it with you. Security level two is active."

Shortly climbing back upon her station, the adolescent girl opened the small metal hatch to the little cabinet where she stowed it and pulled it out along with holster with its small integrated magazine straps. Briefly taking it away from her small hands, Hailynn pulled the black handgun from the holster and did a routine check-up by pulling the rear end. After spotting the small but lethal round loaded in its chamber, she let go of the sled causing it to retract and lastly checked the magazine fed into the gun. She did it so fast that Aira's eyes could not follow the all steps she did.

Pushing the gun back into the holster and fitting it upon the right side of Aira's hip, Hailynn added, "Okay, she has it now, sir. Be careful with it, Aira. The gun is locked and loaded and will unsafe as soon as the trigger is pulled. Just letting you know..."

A nervous feeling overcame her as she climbed down from the station with Hailynn. Making a shy but awkward farewell, Aira shortly turned herself to the Captain, "May _prime_ bestow you, Mister Captain, sir – huh`?"

Hailynn gently grabbed her and pulled her arm, exiting the bridge with her. "Let's go. - and its '_pride_', Ai' - not 'prime'."

"Oops - but - Um.. uh... Ma'am..." she nervously asked, "W-Where are we going?"  
"Mess hall. I am starving!" Hailynn said – undermined by her growling stomach.

Aira's eyes went wide open as Hailynn said 'mess hall'. Oh no – so many people...

**- ...Hailey's heroes... - **

The crew mess hall was quite full of people. Only very few familiar faces and many more of strangers Aira had never seen before. The majority belonged to the ship's main crew, while others seemed to be civilians, such as scientists and miners. It was pretty loud for the girl, needless to say how many looked upon her since she was the one who actually looked strange – Some even with questionable staring, wondering what this beautifully but foreign clothed girl was doing on a Hiigaran ship. Many stared upon her, just at her looks. She leaned her head to the side.

Her eyes were unlike those of Hiigarans or Vaygr. They shimmered a blue-purple color. The side of her face and her right side of her hand were tattooed by beautiful looking stripes and ancient patterns. Despite them being strangers to her, she knew that she was the only girl with a patterned robe in the mess hall...

She tried to understand that 'she' was the 'stranger'...

Hailynn, whose heavy appetite did not hold her back from finishing the meal, sat across Aira who hid her view downwards. Aira's tray was still loaded with food and she still had not taken a single bite. After taking a sip from her cup, Hailynn settled it down and crossed her arms while putting her elbows upon the table, looking at the girl who sunk her head. She had never seemed so depressed as of today - that is, more depressed than ever.

"Aira, what's wrong, girl? You haven't eaten anything." 

At first, she hesitated.

"Hmm." Looking around, Hailynn started to understand what was wrong. Suddenly becoming aware, she came to the fact that she forgot how the young girl did not like overcrowded and loaded places. Hailynn's hunger must have made her blind about Aira's inner fear... It was so arrogant of her to pull her into this place again...

"Oh my, Aira, I am so sorry," Hailynn apologized to the timid girl.

"Huh? No-No, its... okay. I'm alright -"

Hailynn smoothly raised her hand, "No. I totally forgot how you _hate_ places like these. It is not _you_ who needs to be sorry, Ai'. Look, tell you what. Let's get out of here and let me bring you to the officers' mess. Stupid of me not to bring you there as usual thanks to my hunger... but it's a place where you can be alone..."

"Yes – I would enjoy more quietness... but please –" the foreign girl squeaked with soft voice, Hailynn listened carefully to her 'please'. The Hiigaran officer assumed leaving her alone was the only thing she could do as an apology. She knew that Aira sort of hated company and noise. During the last months, it was common for Hailynn to leave Aira alone during her meals where the girl would afterwards head to her quarters.

"Please - don't leave me alone there anymore either... I would really... enjoy... you with me there - O-Okay? Please, don't leave alone... anymore."

Hailynn leaned back slightly. An unexpected answer for sure, but she returned a smile to her and answered light heartedly, "Sure thing, girl..." Hailynn tried not to think about it. She did not know why all the sudden Aira wanted her company.

"M-maybe I am asking... for too much... but could you... promise to take care of me?" she asked with her foreign accent, "Could you be my... _caretaker_?"

A surprising question.

Hailynn needed not to think twice, her answer would be yes for sure – but the thought did exist that the recent events were possibly responsible for her worries and fear.

"Ah, uh – I'm sorry – I am asking for too much!" Aira's shyness overwhelmed her as the embarrassment she felt became too much. Already foreseeing the shy girl to get up, Hailynn placed a hand on her shoulder. Aira was stunned at the touch, not moving a muscle.

The noise around them stayed the same, voices talking, plates, forks and knives sounding the usual noise – yet the _silence_ remained between Hailynn and the girl who asked her to be her caretaker.

But then, just as Hailynn opened her mouth, her eyes looked beyond Aira... Something disturbing.

"Oh no...!"

A group of men and women entered the large and filled mess hall from the other end. Easily distinguished by their uniforms and looks, along with the few colored to their appropriate Kiithid heritage, it was easy to say that they belonged to the strikecraft pilots of the _Vjel-Amaj. _But it was the person at the lead of the group, who Hailynn feared – Too late, their eyes crossed.

Waving straight at Hailynn passed the countless heads of others, she was marked by the attention of that tanned-skin woman who lead that group...  
"_Yoooouuu-whooooo_!" Hailynn's eyes read from the woman's lips far away... from that annoying and loud-mouthed Kiith Manaani woman, Kaydaana "of the" Manaan, as she would say.

Hailynn's heart skipped a beat as it crossed the staggering eyes of the Manaani woman. She was practically paralyzed. Leaving the place in a hurry too would probably excite Aira too much...

**- Of mythical tales... Of scientific facts... -**

(Narrative voice)  
Every star in the galaxy has a story of its own - A story of its birth, A story of its death - and beyond. Some beings of the galaxy witnessing the story of stars; some tell this story to their ancestors. The versions of the truth rarely matched, yet their respective believers were eternally preaching their truth to everyone else. Some call these ancient stories 'tales' – blessed by their religious belief, while others call these stories 'facts,' based on the scientific studies of observation and naturalness. Among generations, those who opposed the belief were either liquidated or proselytized. None, the belief or the fact, would ever dare to unite one another – despite them both telling the truth of the story...  
(end of narration)

Hailynn's eyes followed the group approaching their rowed table. She sighed, even a hasty escape would not have been possible with the crowd in the way.

_Great!_ Hailynn's thoughts shouted, _Kaydaana..._

"Mah – oh – my, look who we have here, eh?" Kaydaana said loudly with the usual famous Manaani accent, raising an eyebrow with great interest at the foreign girl in front of here.

Feeling a soft slap on her shoulder, the adolescent girl felt shocked as she heard the loud voice surprised her. Aira turned her head to the right and slowly looked upwards.

Scanning upwards, her eyes revealed the view of a somewhat dark-skinned woman, her hair colored just like of a reddish chestnut and with stinging dark green eyes. She wore a tight flight suit, only wearing boots, leggings and torso pieces. The flight suit was colored just alike the symbol of her Kiithid heritage and Aira's eyes, purple-blue – which she carried with very _extreme_ pride. Aira never really met many Kiith Manaani among her way, but for sure, she has never met a person, not to mention a woman, with so much energy and who was proud about every centimeter of her body. Aira's thoughts came to a point where she began comparing both Hailynn and Kaydaana. Every time they met, there was some always some 'harmless hostility' between the two. The Manaani woman, though only slightly smaller than Hailynn, always subtly showed off with her body, which was in fact more curvy, slightly... 'bustier', and athletically built than Hailynn's – and every time Aira felt like she was in the crossfire on their rivaling turf...

Kaydaana, being ranked Lieutenant Colonel, was in command of the small squadron unit operating on board the _Vjel-Amaj_– and it seemed they both competed in any possible discipline. Comparing their ranks, both equaled each other, having Hailynn's being naval while Kaydaana's being naval space force. Whatever Hailynn were to say, Kaydaana always had the better remark, subtly insulting her as usual.

The pilots of Kaydaana's unit now surrounded both Hailynn and Aira. A few sat down right next to their superior officer, while others sat down left and right of the girl as Kaydaana remained behind her, putting both hands on her as if she were precious treasure. Both the shy girl and the annoyed superior officer were surrounded by Kaydaana's "henchmen".

"Don't any of you have any respect for the commanding offi-?" Hailynn said.  
"Oh – my bad, Hailey -" one of the male pilots next to her said and then began to chuckle shortly, "Oh c'mon, my-navy-commanding-career-is-more-important woman, is that how you say _hello_ to your ol' wingman? You _can't_ be serious, Honey-Gunny!", followed by a gently elbow thump from to her side.

Aira continued to observe the people around her. Judging by their speech to her, Hailynn probably belonged to their unit long ago, perhaps until she decided to start serving as a superior commanding officer. Aira did not have much knowledge of ranks, but she did remember the name 'Gunny', referring to 'Gunnery Sergeant'... _Maybe – huh_?

The girl's face turned red in full embarrassment as Kaydaana leaned down, embracing her neck softly from behind and laying her head gently upon the top of her. But it was not only that, that was giving Aira the embarrassing feeling; it was Kaydaana's disregardful way of hugging her, her flight suit covered right breast cushioning her cheek away.

"Aww, cutey. Betcha _old lady_ boring you with her blabbering, huh?" the Manaani woman snitched and hugged the girl a bit more, "Don't worry, now that I'm here, hun-!"  
"Hey hey, guys, knock it off and – Hey, who you calling _old lady_?! You're even older than –" Hailynn grunted but was interrupted by Kaydaana.

"Ah-ahahha, stop lyin', Honey-Gunny, no-need-to-be-ashamed-of!"  
"Ngggh – Look everybody, we just had several shifts on our backs..."

"Yeah," another one of the male pilots said with a deep voice, "Heard about it."

"We are tired..." Hailynn added.

"Know about it."

"And we could do with a break..."

"But we AIN'T here for it, Gunny! Wouldn't happen like this if you wouldn't have left the 'Strike Force'! Not for a night with a Vaygr, ha!" he yelled.

The angle of Hailynn's mouth edge frowned downwards in annoyance.  
"Yah bet!" Kaydaana proclaimed loudly, "But, now that you've mentioned it..."

Aira's head, which was already as red as a Hiigaran honeydew melon, was now shoved ahead by Kaydaana's body slowly that was leaning slightly closer to Hailynn while her arms still rested upon the girl's neck, "Hey, Hailey, yah don't happen to know about that Vaygr fighter pilot, do yah?"

Aira looked ahead from this awkward angle to Hailynn.

"Whoa – What a minute," Hailynn said and now grinned too. Aira was surprised how Hailynn's attitude switched from annoyed to self-secure, "Don't tell me you're interested in that Vaygr guy. Please – DON'T tell me somebody's skills in maneuvering strikecrafts... still _**arouse**_ you -?!"

" – And may the gods of Sajuuk strike mah soul!" Kaydaana followed up to Hailynn's sentence with a strange glare in her eyes, "Ya shoulda seen the man in action – takin' down those lightning fast torpedoes!"

"Yeah," that deep voiced pilot added, "She kept chattering about that Vaygr guy. But hey – she's right. That guys has some skill alright. He blew most of the torps on his own actually."

Aira's eyes looked back at Hailynn – who seemed happy that she did not have to listen to the radio chatter between the fighter pilots back then during the rally-point rescue operation.  
"Don't get too enthusiastic, Kaydy -" Hailynn said with a firm voice and rose an eyebrow, "This guy is still a Vaygr. We are still enemies. You should hate them as much as the rest of us do..."

"- And that man's just like those-" Kaydaana added and leaned back slightly, laying one of her hands on her chest, while letting Aira straighten her head, "- who are only able to get this Manaani's heart racin'. Can't _hate_ 'em forevah, 'Career-ley' – that's why ya still a single – virgin."

Hahahahhahahhahaha –eh. Every pilot circling Aira and Hailynn laughed but then immediately stopped – exclude Kaydaana who chuckled further. The men and the other female pilot stopped as they noticed that Kaydaana already pushed Hailynn's nerve over the edge. Manaani checkmate, they say in such situations.

"But anyways. This mission of ours was a bit tedious after the missile hunt until that Kadeshi ship blasted on that freighter," one of the men continued, trying to do his best to switch the topic, "Man, if we would have been out there, we might have been killed. Heck, that ship had some heavy stealth somehow -" 

"Oh c'mon -!" Kaydaana interrupted, "Now yer soundin' like Hailey!"

"No really. Actually - " the man concluded, "This place gives me the creeps. How could a place such as this star system develop like this?! Where are we? In the Garden of Kadesh or something?!"

Aira suddenly raised her head when she heard the name that caught her attention.

"Have you been ever there? Can you tell me more about it?! Please!" the girl anxiously asked to him.

"Whoa. Easy, easy- girl... Was never there. Only heard stories from those S'Jets white-suit scientists who are onboard. But hey, they had much to talk about -"

"Yeah – right," that deeper voiced man snitched, "You only tried to learned more about that single woman scientist onboard, didn't you?"

"Heh-heh, Manaani tactics I learned and am using, ya got me there. But no, really. At first, she was boring me and _mentally slaughtering_ me her _talking_ – but when she started taking about gas clouds, gas giants, why she was here, how the realm of the 'Kadeshi Nebula' scientifically came to existence and how it's 'birth' is alike this star system was amazing!"

"Well – tell us about it."

The pilot scooted closer and explained, "Look. Kadesh and the M'randara system both used to be some kind of gas giant. No, not just gas giant like Hiigara VII and VIII – No, _SUPER_ gas giants. Their masses waaay," he swung his arms to the outside, "over our imaginations, people. She said that not many 'hypermass' or whatever gas giants like these existed. Now you all heard of the story of scientists in science ships explaining gas giants so I won't bore you with that talking. That scientist lady then talked about all this stuff about the millions of colors that existed in this system, saying stuff like 'those red and green clouds are the evidence for the existence of this system just formed by countless numbers of colliding gas giants' and stuff like that that just _blew_ my mind. And blah-blah-blah..bleh." He sighed. "- however it looks like I impressed her with my _interests_ and she seems to be looking forward to meeting me again, so I still have some hopes, heh-heh."

"-No..." Aira shyly said.  
All pilots looked surprised at her, even Hailynn.  
"Whaddaya mean, 'no', honeh - hm?" Kaydaana asked with big green eyes.

"That's not how it happened... Not like that!"

Aira, unaware of her sudden shouting voice, caught most attention of the mess hall. Despite the mess hall being a very large room, conversations seized among the tables around them, having others turning around shortly - wondering who shouted.

"That's not how it happened. That is not what happened to 'Kadesha' and 'Rahji'"

"Kadesha? 'Rahji', who's Rahji?", he asked while shrugging.

"M'randara is what you call... R-Rahji today..."

"Hey girl, listen. This S'jet lady was the one who told me all about this. S'Jet! Hello? _S'jet_! It's based on hard'n'heavy scientific facts and not on some 'myth'!"

"It's not a 'myth'!" Aira shouted in her foreign accent, gaining more attention from others. Hailynn was surprised to see the girl actually defending the knowledge of her beliefs. She shortly looked down, spotting that Aira's hand had that necklace tightly in her hands again.

Aira now stood.

"It is not a 'myth'!... It is... a tale," she said and calmed down again, dropping her shoulders, "A tale of the lost... love between Kadesha and Rahji... A love like no other. Aeons before our time, both loved each other when our galaxy was young. It was a forbidden love, for Kadesha was a Maiden of another Sunfather and Sunmother of the Sungarden while Rahji was 'unclean', not blessed or born within the Sungarden. Love bound the two. Both not willing to ever release the bound to each other, no matter the cause! It was only that the rage of the Sunfathers that struck upon Kadesha's love, cursing both him and his beloved one. Rahji survived... but the embrace to Kadesha perished. Their bond was released and Rahji fell into the deeps of being 'unbound'. Eons passed and Kadesha eternally cried, for she would never see Rahji again. As result of her lost love... Kadesha refused the Sunfathers' will and the grace of the Sunmothers to bound with a Sunborn. Her lost love tormented her soul that she... stopped... her existence. Her once everlasting soul perished away, left was the everlasting beauty and her sorrow - The tears that fell after her lost love. Tears sent after him.. For every eon that fell, Rahji heard the sorrow cries of Kadesha – until her sacrifice for her lost love caused and her cries seized. Rahji's sorrow was heard only – once - before he ended his everlasting fall... Rahji died in sorrowfulness of his lost love, his remains lost in the galaxy... _We_ Kadeshi praise Kadesha. I never thought my 'essence' were ever to be embraced by Rahji. And Kadesha's sacrifice shall never be forgotten - Her lost loved one never to be forgotten and never should any essence desecrate the tale. Rahji is no longer alone for my essence has found him! Maybe my only hope in... returning one of his tears to Kadesha..."

Aira was slightly out of breath as tears ran down her cheek in sorrow for Rahji. Noticing the silence, she looked around. Her surroundings were silent as she told the Kadeshi tale. Only amazed faces stared upon her. The girl's beliefs went through her, that she somewhat lost her mind in the tale.

Despite it being already known, Aira just showed herself again as of being of Kadeshi heritage...


	5. Chapter 5 My mysterious sister

Special thanks to Betareader "SOTS" from Fanfiction net, id=1474306

**Chapter 5 – My mysterious sister**

All eyes within the mess hall were focused upon Aira who quietly sat down, casting her gaze down upon the table and laying her hands in her lap. Not a single sound could be heard after the last words left her lips. Being stared at like this was something the young Kadeshi girl could not handle at all. Her innermost feelings for Rahji's sad tale formed itself. This situation however was a nightmare come true, outing herself with her feared Kadeshi heritage, as a complete stranger who just did not fit into this crew...

The sound of Aira sniffing echoed throughout the mess hall. Kaydaana, who still stood behind her, began to rub her shoulder – gently and in a manner that slowly calmed her down, soothing her embarrassed feelings.

Hailynn felt so sorry for the girl who suffered under the eyes of the crowd in this place. This was such a rough day. She could not stand her suffering anymore. Lifting herself immediately, the Hiigaran officer gently took Aira's hand. Kaydaana made space for the Kadeshi girl to slip away from table and stared at the two as they made their way to the exit.

Speechless, Hailynn followed Aira as she made her way out – but just as they reached the exit, they both heard a sound. Halting their movement, Hailynn turned around, looking the dirrection where the familiar sound originated of... and with surprise, her eyes widened.

One of the pilots, sniffed, and had a crystal strain that ran down his cheek. Hailynn did not say a word, but her surprised face said it all as she slowly lifted her finger at that pilot. Kaydaana and the others looked at the pilot as well, amazed at what Hailynn discovered.

The pilot, who at first stared at Aira, suddenly noticed that he was being observed and felt the cold strain on his cheek. Immediately lifting himself, he turned around to the others within the mess hall, totally staggered... A bad idea, for his frantic turn-around revealed the tear that ran down his cheek. His eyes anxiously jumped from one face to another among the many. Everybody spotted the tear in his eye. Everybody remained startled since nobody expected a tall man having a tear in eye... actually showing an emotion; it was merely a surprise for them... but then the pilot straightened his body and shortly wiped the tear from his cheek before he turned over the Kadeshi girl. He just stood there, his chest abroad and with a firm face.

_But why did he stand up_?

Spotting another motion, somebody stood up as well. His swift hand movement showed that he just wiped something off his face. Somebody else raised himself too... then a woman... then two at once. A chain-reaction of people began to stand up... A few of the women folded their hands together in front of themselves and smiled towards Aira, before they disappeared behind others who stood up.

_What is going on_?

_Why are they all standing up_?

Aira's thoughts left her without answers. She looked back at Hailynn. The eyes of the Kadeshi girl were full of questions, but all Hailynn did was to give her a gentle smile.

_Her smile... Why is she smiling at me_?

She looked back at everybody and spotted Kaydaana, saluting her in the Manaani manor –knocking right fist against the left side of her chest and then holding it up to her right side again-, with a soft smile alike Hailynn's.

Slowly understanding, Aira began to learn that they were not just staring at her because of her being a stranger – not at all. They listened to her tale. They respected her... her heritage and beliefs. Others were simply impressed and taken by the tragic tale. They all trusted the 'scientific fact,' but never was a tale told in that manner to them, despite how short it was. They seemed to understand how much this Kadeshi girl missed her homeworld.

Feeling of urge of Aira wanting to go, both Hailynn and the girl exited the mess hall.

Watching them making their steps out of the mess hall, Kaydaana silently sighed, "Oh, that poor 'Shy'ra...'"

Quietly making their way along the rather empty corridors, the lights along were dimmed, only shimmering weak artificial lighting and glowing illuminators in separate colors showing direct ways to certain sections – Needless to say, it was 'night shift' time. Just occasional pairs of marines patrolling who saluted to Hailynn as the two passed by. Only slight humming of the ship's power plant and other secondary power grids were heard besides their dull sounding steps upon the floor.

Aira held her hand on her stomach as she felt a strange feeling inside.

"Hailynn?" the girl suddenly asked.  
"Hmm?"  
"Where are we going?"  
"Officers' quarters. With the situation being cool, I think we can get some rest. We'll be needing it, Ai'."  
"Oh." the Kadeshi girl replied as she walked along with her. Both her shoulder and her hip ached slightly with each movement due to the holster and the intercom radio-unit she carried.

After a long walk, they both finally reached their quarters, their access doors only across to each other.

"Hope you will be alright, Ai,'" Hailynn said, who nearly entered her room, but noticed a missing sound from behind. Shortly turning around, the Hiigaran woman spotted Aira still standing in front of her closed door. She just stood there, staring at the sealed metallic door. Hailynn did not need to think much, since the reason for the girl's hesitation was clear. She already suffered so much ever since the _Vjel-Amaj _was dispatched to this distress operation and although she was able to take breaks during the rough flight through hyperspace, she must have had a rough time trying to find peace in her mind. Hailynn shook her head. Aira still was young shy girl who was actually _alone_ and traumatized by her past. Nonetheless, Hailynn was still overwhelmed to actually be speaking so much up to now with this mysterious girl.

Wanting to cheer her up, she said to the girl, "Hey – What are you waiting for?"

Aira turned around, wondering what Hailynn was talking about.

"Y'know, I could always use some company..."

Aira dropped her shoulders slightly and faintly smiled, accepting Hailynn's polite gesture. With both entering Hailynn's officer quarters, Hailynn set the lights dimmed... when she suddenly felt an 'urge'.

"Whoa –", the woman suddenly said with a strange voice.  
"H-Hailynn, are you alright? You -"  
"- I'm fine, I'm fine – Just give me a moment. Those dreaded inhibitor pills just gave up on me. Nature calls... You can rest on my bed, girl, just give me a moment."  
"Y-yes."

The weary officer desperately left the living room, leaving Aira with her curiosity alone for the moment. Slowly walking around after taking her shoes off, the Kadeshi girl observed the rather dark room with her eyes, only finding strange looking pictures and objects, medals and symbols of the Kiith Amaj. The room itself was actually sloppy, things were everywhere... For sure _not_ caused by the rumbling of hyperspace...

Aira smiled a bit. It seemed to amuse her that Hailynn was not as tidy as she always seemed to be.

Entering the bedroom, Aira made her way to the bed and sat upon it. Bouncing only shortly upon it, she stayed quiet and looked around, when she noticed she still had weight on her shoulders and hip. Taking the comm unit from her shoulder, she laid it on her lap and immediately detached the holster from her hip. Nervously laying both objects away on top of the small table next to her, her hands stumbled upon a picture frame that was knocked slightly to the side by her clumsiness.

Lifting the picture up with one hand, she discovered several people on it. Faces of various people that did seem alike to Hailynn... Perhaps relatives of her former kiithid? She did not adolescent girl stared upon the picture with both of her hands clawing as if it were precious. Slightly caught by surprise, Hailynn came into the bedroom of the quarters and walked up to the closet only a few feet away from the bed and where the girl sat...

"_Man_, the Captain was right..." Hailynn remarked, "Remind me never to drink that much coffee with inhibitor pills again... Heh- huh?"

Spotting Aira sitting on the bed, her arms embraced the large picture frame that normally stood on the small table next to the bed. The girl hesitated at first, but then stuttered, "I-I'm sorry – I didn't mean to snoop..." 

"Aira, dear, stop apologizing. It's okay," Hailynn replied gently to her and turned away to a closet. By each second, Hailynn was getting more and more exhausted. The pills she took to survive several shifts and exceed without interruption were wearing off and soon she would suffer the effects. Finally able, she detached the actually light communication gear from her shoulders, along with several access chips and other gadgets, including the holster and the handgun.

*Snap, snap, snap* and other sounds of detaching Velcro-straps was what Aira heard. Embarrassed as she stared, Hailynn detached more parts of her naval uniform, exposing more of her body. Just by moving her neck and her back, Aira heard three faint bone snaps.

Needless to say, Hailynn's shoulders were overstrained for being so many long hours without rest as she squeezed her shoulders together and then made a long sigh and moved her neck around again, feeling the pain around the stem of her neck. With two last movements, Hailynn removed both the remaining uniform jacket along with the vest and her skirt, leaving a half-naked and averagely mature built Hiigaran woman in undergarment standing with her back towards the discomforted Aira, who kept her view sunk to floor.

"I'm sure we will have a good sleep, Ai'. Think I'll leave the shower for later – I'm just too ti-" , she yawned widely, "-ired for it now." Hailynn paused before she grabbed a night robe from the closet and turned her head shortly and then gently smirked. Hailynn for sure was aware that Aira was a growing young girl, her age somewhere around 17, but she somewhat forgot that this girl never really had been 'in touch' with others of her kind, not even to mention with other women to 'talk' to.

Hailynn turned herself slightly, "No need to be shy, really, Aira. We all are the _same_, no matter where we come from. You might want to take some of that clothes off, too, before you lay down, girl."

Looking upon herself shortly, Aira did still have too much on. Without much hesitation, Aira slowly took off both the beautifully patterned robes upon her shoulders and her body, left with patterned undergarments.

Aira remained silent at first but did look up to her.

"I wonder sometimes what those Bentusi were busy with while they had you, girl," Hailynn remarked. She only knew that the girl has had a very rough past and that the Bentusi said she were to suffer under a somewhat undermining amnesia – but still, Hailynn found it inappropriate to ask her about her past now...

"H-Hailynn?"  
"Yes?"  
"This picture, is it your true family - _kiith_?"

Hailynn straightened her back shortly,"- _Was_. A prominent Kiith - to me they were just a... _family_. Almost all of them have disappeared or whatever – If you count my father, who doesn't care about me at all any more, for sure acts like I'm dead."

"Sorry...," Aira said and threw herself away upon the bed. Curling up with the picture enclosed within her arms upon her chest, her curiosity let words leave her lips, "- but – did you [i]_love[/i]_ them, at all?".

Putting on the robe and strapping the light cloth belt around her waist, Hailynn walked around the bed, sat down and laid upon it, throwing the blanket over the both of them. Now it was Hailynn who was hesitating to answer. Turning her head to the side, Aira's eyes were wide – she did seem sleepy – but they awaited her to answer... The unusual glare of her mysteriously colored eyes curiously waiting to be satisfied.

"A long story, Aira. We actually hated each other all along. Practically all but a few of my brothers were hypocrites. I was the youngest born to the small but _rich_ kiithid. As we grew up, my elder Kiith sisters only concentrated on trying to be the first to be married with other kiithid primes, -'sa, princes and any other man in a high position you could imagine. My brothers did take care of me back then, but contact to each other slowly broke as one disappeared after another, serving the sake of Hiigara and their pride. I left Kiith Delixa only with the name attached to my blood heritage, it doesn't really mean... anything to me... I haven't been to Hiigara or even near it for ages."

Raising her eyes to Aira's again, they still stared upon Hailynn's... somewhat piercing into her mind, feeling the truth deep within her soul.

A single tear ran down Hailynn's cheek.

"Yes... I did... and I still do... love... them. There are times where I miss them - but not only my brothers - All of them. I don't know why. But with me being reams of light years away from them and them not caring about my life, my naval career as a desquamated of Kiith Delixa and serving the Kiith Amaj as my only hope and yet still loving those who hate me? I do, Ai' ... but for the sake of Hiigara, and I won't believe what I am going to say, even Kaydaana is right, I am _alone_. No love. Just my career and my duty, just hate..."

"You love her and those people who were around, too... or?" Aira curiously asked again.  
"I haaaate Kaydaana!" Hailynn replied with a sharp tongue but then she paused. There was no real way of getting out of this. She did not want to lie at Aira at all, therefore was she too precious...

She sighed. "I _love_ her - but I still hate her! It's just – hate-love – I guess. And yes, I do love the others... 'They' all have been a true family for me... actually..." Hailynn slowly falling asleep.

Aira once again smiled shortly but then hid it right after. The Kadeshi girl turned her head upwards, revealing the beautifully tattooed symbols and stripes upon the side of her face. Her eyes stared at the ceiling.

"I don't have a family..." Aira whispered...  
"Never forget, girl... You are not... alone..." another yawn, "- You and everybody else on this... ship... are my family..."

The girl's eyes widened as Hailynn's words echoed within her mind. The salvation for her seek had been revealed... but as Hailynn said 'Good night' before she was about to fall asleep, strange gurgling occurred...

*gggrhhhghg*  
"Wh-What- was that?", Hailynn said tiredly...  
"H-Hailynn..." the girl stuttered...

There was a long pause before Aira answered. She barely had the courage to explain.

"Please don't be mad... but... I... I'm _hungry_..." she said with a shaky voice.

"_Eh_?" –Hailynn's eyes shot open. 

=The mess hall... ten minutes later.=

The large cafeteria hall only had a selected few of crewmen and marines taking a break. Ever since she left her quarters, the ship continuously rumbled, barely felt. She assumed that that Vaygr fighter had docked aboard and felt that the ship was engaging cruise flight IV thrust profile.

Appearing at counter, a weary Hailynn stood before; Her face drowsy, her uniform slightly deranged with open straps, a slightly misplaced shoulder-mounted radio unit and with messed up hair. Hoping the Captain or any other bridge officers would not see her, she nonetheless wanted to help poor Aira satisfy her hunger. Hailynn totally forgot that the girl had not eaten anything at all for almost a day.

"Whoa, a zombie... Oh my gods, where art thou?" the cook said to her as he noticed her weird appearance waiting at the counter.  
"Please be merciful, Cookie," she mumbled.  
"Man. You look like you had a _rough_ night there, ma'am –"

"Don't ask... But I assure you it is not what you think. Another one of those long duties with those pills..."  
"Ma'am, you need to stop doing that. You're killing yourself... But nevermind. What may it be? Double coffee?"

She raised her hand and wove it several times as she shook her head.

"Oh my, please no. My roommate for the night, Aira, needs something to eat."  
"Aira? Our Kadeshi girl?" he asked, as he made his way to the back.  
"Exactly – But leave the meat away, please, she's one of those – fruit eaters... whatever - I forgot how they call them on Hiigara, but she can't eat meat at all."

"Ah, you mean, 'vegetarian' actually – Veggie. Yes, we have a few of them onboard. I know what I can give to you for her."  
"Yeea-" she was plagued by another yawn "-ah – sorry..." she replied and wove her hand in front of her mouth.  
"We still got plenty to eat for her. Just let me put it together, Hailey." 

"Right."  
"Y'know, that was an impressive story she told there back then."  
"I know, but what do you mean?"  
"You should have seen the hall after you left,", the cook explained, "Everybody was only talking about that 'tale' she told. It sort of started a lot of interesting conversations after the both of you left. And actually, they all had open questions. You better keep an eye on that girl, Hailey. Sure as frell can tell that Aira doesn't like crowded places. Why did you bring her here? Looks like you might have people asking for her later on. Just say hello to her from me, will you?"

Handing over a tray filled with fruits and those... 'vegetables', that had about as much as Aira would like it.

"Sure thing, Cookie. Thanks a lot – See you later on."  
"Later, Hailynn."

With her messed-up looks, Hailynn carried the tray back, heading down the hallway. The ship was still vibrating but she already got used to it. There was no way Aira would be sleeping this through. Any disturbance never gave the girl a break.

Hailynn suddenly stopped... just noticing bad luck tapping her shoulder as she saw somebody coming around the corner and walking towards her. Astonished, she did not move a muscle...

It was the Captain, heading somewhere... unfortunately...  
_  
Over hundreds of corridors in this big cruiser and he just had to take this way_! her mind shouted.

Hailynn's hands were full. There was not enough time or space to put down the tray and arrange herself, therefore it was way too late. This was going to be the first time they would meet having her in a very embarrassing situation. She could trust Cookie not talking about her, but for sure, if anybody would figure out her being seen by the captain like this, she would be the laughing stock forever.

With her sloppy and startled appearance, she had no other choice but to stand still and let her strange looks as they were... even with the strap of her bra visible upon her shoulder. All she did was to make space by standing still with her back against the wall of the corridor and look straight, nervously hoping he would say nothing... But it all came different than her expectations.

As the captain walked passed her, he did say something to her, as he continued along the way and disappeared around the second intersection. His words caught her totally offguard that she made slide down the wall in surprise.  
"At ease, Sub-Commander. You are off-duty," was what she said to her.

Finally reaching her quarters again, she entered the living room and looked around. Aira was not here as she thought where she would to be waiting at. The access door automatically sealed behind Hailynn as she made her way to the bedroom.

"Hey, Ai' – You won't believe what happened..." She sighed. "Supposed to say hello to you from the cook. I brought you some -" she said, but then noticed that nobody was actually listening. Needless to say, Aira only replied the invisible "'Z's"...  
"-food.. Oh girl, why do you do this to me..." Hailynn whispered.

Despite what happened recently, Hailynn forgot about it and laid the tray aside. That time and again, the Hiigaran woman swapped her uniform with her night robe again and brought her tired self to the vacant side of the bed, lying herself down close to the side of Aira. She peacefully slept. Alas, she did deserve the rest.

Suddenly, Aira mumbled something, words in a non-understandable but familiar language. She was mumbling Kadeshi in her sleep, since Hailynn accidentally bumped her. Hailynn was way too exhausted, but the girl's mumbling did sound a bit as if she were in slightly at unrest, probably her mind only dreaming of what happened the last 24 hours.

"Teg're eshi... mahhmh na'hi...bethsss," she mumbled further, sounding only slightly anxious. Feeling sorry for the poor girl, it seemed as if Aira needed to feel warmth – It seemed as if she even felt alone in her dreams.

There was no way Hailynn could ignore Aira's need. She was somewhat the little sister she never had. Embracing the girl slightly, Hailynn whispered "Shh... shhhh..." calming her down.

Aira immediately curled up closer, resting her ear on Hailynn's chest as she finally became silent and slept further. Holding her _lost_ little sister, Hailynn fell asleep after a long sigh... Both of them not even slightly disturbed by the ship's thruster barely trembling throughout the room and whole ship.

Several hours later.  
Slowly waking up alone in the bed and with a picture next to her, Hailynn lifted herself and stretched her body a few times. The sleep she had remedied most of her stressed muscles, but she was still dreaded sleepy. Waking up was always a difficulty the Hiigaran woman had. Taking a look upon one of the clocks displaying the ship's current time, she suddenly noticed that she did not have all too much time. She needed to get ready for duty. Just by doing simple math, she guessed the ship was not that far away from its destination.

But where was Aira?  
Shaking her head several times, she heard a voice. Noticing that it was not in her head, she heard the girl's voice speaking something in the other room. With half-closed eyes and her balance sense slightly 'inactive', she awkwardly walked towards the living room, noticing everything arranged –neatly, including Aira, who sat on her knees in front of the large screen in the living room. The screen revealed a live-feed image from the observatory of the ship, focused upon the distant shrouded star at the center of the system that also illuminated the whole living room, throwing a shadow of Aira as its light reflected upon her surface. The scenery was absolutely beautiful but strange, for this star had changed its color again to shining emerald-green. Never had she seen something alike before... but it gave Hailynn a rather disturbing and threatening feeling as she stared upon this majestic entity, consuming and being shrouded by endless streams of colorful gas-vortexes.

Chants and prayers were heard.  
Aira was praying or praising... or more likely, she seemed to be devoting her words to somebody. Again, Hailynn heard the name 'Rahji' and 'Kadesha' and many other Kadeshi words. Worshiping was the definitely the wrong word here – She seemed to be seeking _guidance_ or some sort of spiritual illumination, opening her hands to the side and bowing. For being a 'lost' one and so far away from where she came from, Hailynn understood why Aira did this and respected her ancient religion. It was what formed her to what she was today that gave her hope. Aira sat before the screen and looked upwards upon it for several long moments.

Hearing Hailynn bumping her foot against something _painfully_, Aira slowly looked over her shoulder as she noticed the Hiigaran woman awoken from her sleep.

"M-M'desh, Hailynn..." the Kadeshi girl greeted to her and gave a sorry looking smile.

"*Ouch... * Sorry – I did not want to disturb your prayers, Ai'. My bad..." Hailynn apologized, feeling guilty for disturbing her.

"No-no! It is... okay ... I am done right now. I should not be doing this here – I should be at my shrine... but I feel more... secure here with you around as 'Rahji's' essence is looking upon me. I hope it was alright to - "

"Aira – You know me, I hope, well enough. There is no reason to be saying sorry all the time. Never should you need to ask for permission, girl."

The Kadeshi girl turned herself and sat on her legs with hands on top of her lap, staring upon Hailynn a while, curiously awaiting what she would or say next.

"Look, I will need a shower. Something you should do in the meantime too, Ai'. We will soon need to report for duty to figure out how things are going on from now. It won't be an easy day, so it looks like a coffee would be the appropriate medication against my sleepiness – need one, badly."

"Yes... I understand."  
"Very well," Hailynn said and made her way to the bathroom.  
Before she entered, Aira, who stared upon the ground, asked quietly, " Hailynn?"  
"Huh?"

"Thank you... for taking care of me..."

Hailynn smiled warmly to her, before she left Aira in the living room.


	6. Chapter 6 The Vaygr Pilot

Special thanks to Betareader "SOTS" from Fanfiction net, id=1474306

**Chapter 6 – The Vaygr Pilot**

Almost twenty minutes later.  
Leaving the bathroom half-naked, covered by a towel, Hailynn felt the cool air rushing past her skin as she slowly walked back to the bedroom of her unusually tidy quarters. The shower surely did well to her, at least until the point she felt her coffee "addiction" starting to urge her for a dose – Looks like she would have to get one on the way. Taking a look around, the big screen was off and she did not find the Kadeshi girl around, perhaps Aira had already left and was in her quarters, probably taking a bath and putting on different clothes in the meantime. The tray that had fruits and vegetables was empty.

_What an appetite for such a small girl, _Hailynn thought and rubbed her forehead.

Taking another look around, she noticed the ship not vibrating any longer. Assuming the ship had already reached its destination, she guessed that that greedy Paktu miner and his mining crew have already dispatched with their harvesters to satisfy their thirst for rare minerals. Without any alarms awaken her earlier, she also guessed there was no trouble during the long flight... luckily.

Hailynn took her time as she opened the closet and put on clean undergarments. Thoughts filled her mind. This new day was going to answer a lot of questions, hopefully; so many questions cascaded among each other. Snapping out of her short daydreaming, Hailynn sighed and made a short glance towards the bed, discovering Aira's sidearm and holster still lying on the little table aside to the picture of Hailynn's divergent family. Slowly approaching the table, she stared at the picture for a while, before she replaced it upon the table and grabbed both of Aira's belongings.

But there was no time to be fooling around any longer. Her presence would soon be needed. Walking back to the closet, Hailynn once again put on a new unwrinkled uniform wear, starting again by putting the tight vest, skirt and shirt on, then strapping her jacket together and arranging her gear, such as the holster and her shoulder mounted communication unit. Done within short moments, Hailynn took one last look at herself through the mirror, looking at the mirror image only staring back to her...

_Commander again, eh?,_ the mirror image seemed to say to her.

She did not answer...

_Here we go again_... She sighed.

Closing the closet and putting on her shoes last, she grabbed Aira's holster with the sidearm inside and made her way to the access door of her quarters. Opening the door as she kept her view to her hands, she accidentally stumbled upon a small person who stood in front of her quarters, unfortunately too close to the door. Thanks to the structure of the access door, the tip of Hailynn's shoe tripped upon it, making her lose her balance and fall upon the small person. Barely able to stop her fall, Hailynn caught herself with both arms stretched left and right of Aira who was stunned by surprise with her back to the floor. Shortly realizing that Aira waited for her so close in front of the door, she must have been too shy to just knock on the door and say that she was already done – At least that was what Hailynn could tell, judging by her different robe and new Kadeshi ornament across her forehead.

"S-Sorry", the embarrassed girl said as Hailynn helped her up.  
"Whoa - Hey, you alright? You scared me there -"  
"I didn't mean to -"  
"Nevermind that. My fault for not looking –" the Hiigaran woman replied to Aira, who then reached for the girl's hand, helped her up and pulled gently towards the direction she wanted to walk.

"W-Where are we going?" Aira wondered as she was being gently hustled.  
"We won't have much time – We're off to get the most important thing I need for every morning." She winked.

Several moments later at the mess hall.  
_Faint steam vapor rises, before it is smoothly blown away_.

Hailynn huddled over her mug of coffee with a contented smile and lidded eyes, as the fragrant steam rose towards her face and streamed over it, soon to be swept away by a gentle blow of air. Feeling the taste prickling on her tongue as she took a long draught, just this very taste was enough to give her that spark to every synapse and nerve that brought her mind to full awareness – She was fully awake again. Both sat across each other at the same table from last "night," with a lot of vacant seats, benches and tables around as a few other men and women sat elsewhere in the mess hall.

"Mmm, nothing like a good coffee before duty. Cookie knows me far too well. Huh?"

Aira looked around, saying nothing. Her presence attracted views upon her, but friendly views and waving hands greeted her from afar. Shy as she was, she turned back and slightly hunched her shoulders together.

"Hey," Hailynn said, trying to catch Aira's attention. Knowing that she was being watched, Hailynn tried to distract her by asking, "How was your sleep?"

She looked up at the curious woman.

"I had a... a mare of night..."

"... nightmare, you mean," – That answer caught her by surprise, "- well, uhm... Do you want... to talk about it? No, wait. Let's not -"  
"I dreamt the moment I lost my... family."  
"No – Aira, let's not talk about that –"  
"But... I wish you to know... about me... who I really am," she suddenly said.

Hailynn stared at her for a long while. The soul of this girl had always been sealed by the scars it suffered during her past. Only the Bentusi – and perhaps, the Captain – really knew what happened to this Kadeshi being long ago. Nobody, nobody of the bridge crew, not even Hailynn herself were told about her past, nothing but wild rumors. Long ago, Hailynn was just like the other people of the crew. Everybody, even her, did research on her shrouded background. The girl's mysterious past was one of those secrets everybody wanted to uncover restlessly, but unfortunately, nobody ever found results of any kind giving the slightest hint. Some say those ancient tales of the Sajuuk, the Sajuuk'Khar and the Bentusi were nothing compared to this girl's history. Her mind was filled with so many valuable secrets, not only of her past, but knowledge of Bentusi, the galaxy and other imaginable things - but this she did not seem to be aware of. That, at least, was what the rumors said.

As time passed, Hailynn slowly came to the point of her being the closest person ever to this girl. Until then, Hailynn never wanted to hassle Aira with questions despite that urge deep within her wanting to uncover those secrets – although just a moment ago, it nearly came out again.

But Aira's last words were nothing usual...  
Aira wanted to open herself.  
This was Aira's invitation to a fraction of her secrets...  
Some would take this opportunity immediately...

Hailynn reached out and laid her hand upon Aira's.

Reconsidering Aira's words, Hailynn took a deep breath before she explained her deepest thoughts, "Aira. There was a time where I was just dying to learn more about you - even had one of the agencies try to get a profile of you, to no avail... For which I am ashamed of. But... Nowadays, things have changed – I have changed, Ai'. I just can't stand thinking about what you had to go through and it just kills me even more seeing you suffering about your past. Don't get me wrong, I'm honoured you want to share your past with me, but this is not the right place... or the right time. When there is time, when we get back to 'Amaji Prime' or whenever it is appropriate once we get out of this mess, you can share your story. But for now, this is a secret I wish you to keep to yourself and the Captain. Alright?"

The Kadeshi girl frowned at first as she heard Hailynn refusing to listen to her story for now... but suddenly, her eyes widened when Hailynn added, "- Nevertheless - I do _promise_ to take care of you, Aira – as a '_caretaker_', as you kadeshi would say. Whatever may happen, I pledge to protect you with my life. And remember this: You can always trust us, the Captain and I."

For the first time, Hailynn sensed something different from Aira, as she held her hand upon hers. It seemed as if this was the first time in ages where the girl ever felt something alike happiness, albeit only briefly – but just for the moment, Hailynn felt relieved to see her a bit happy for a change. Taking Hailynn's hand and pulling it slowly over the table, Aira curled up slightly and embraced it, welcoming her promise gracefully.

"Hailynn?" the Kadeshi girl asked, as she hugged the woman's hand tightly against her chest.  
"Hmm?"  
"What is the Captain's name?"  
"His name? Not sure really. Just know his Kiith name. It's - " 

She was interrupted by the shipwide comm, gaining the attention of everybody within the mess hall and throughout the ship, just before a familiar voice spoke:

""Attention. This is the Captain speaking. All commanding officers and operatives are to meet at deck seven, secondary conference room. Over and out.""

Distracted by the Captain's call, Hailynn suddenly stood up.

"I guess that's duty calling us, Ai'."  
"B-But, I am not a _commanding_ offi-"  
"You're just as important as I am, girl. C'mon, we better get going. I bet this is going to be interesting," the Hiigaran woman said and helped her up.

Looking at her hot and tasty unfinished coffee, Hailynn did not want to waste this precious gold and picked up the cup. Walking over to the cook, the cook expected her approach long before she reached his spot.

"?" Hailynn's lips wondered.

He immediately handed a special covered thermo-cup over to her, the most perfect invention for the morning coffee on-the-way, filled with enough coffee for the first early shift.

"Heard the call," he said and smiled.  
"I'm _that_ predictable, huh?"

"As usual."

**- No way! -**

Deck seven, secondary conference room.  
It did not take long until the two arrived at their destination. Entering the room that was filled with many familiar people to Hailynn, many of those who sat greeted her. Still proud of her morning coffee, she silently saluted back to them. Two operatives welcomed them to free their seats for the two, but both Hailynn and Aira politely refused and stood next to the others standing alongside the wall.

Having Aira to her left, Hailynn suddenly felt a not-so-gentle elbow bumping into the right side of her ribs, nearly knocking her covered coffee cup off her hand. To her surprise, she could not believe who stood aside her, "Hey, Haileeey – Tryin' to ignore yer dearest _friend_, hmm?"

Kaydaana stood aside with a vicious smile. How could Hailynn have overlooked this woman? The morning was running just fine up to now. Hailynn frowned as she asked herself this question many times in her mind.

Abruptly, all speeches seized as the Captain appeared from another door.

_Just on time_, Hailynn thought, being saved by his appearance.

Staying at the side of the room, Aira, her new caretaker and a few others stood behind the circled rows of seated officers and operatives as the Captain began with his speech:

"Greetings, fellow Amaji... and Kadeshi. This is the situation report I wish to share with all of you, so please, listen carefully. With much effort, we have been able to treat most of the refugees we have taken aboard. However, neither the Hiigaran Navy nor did we ever expected to rescue so many. With the cargo bay at its limit, we can no longer leave them in there until our return to Hiigaran space. Politically, we are still at war with the Vaygr, but we are not barbarians. Therefore, I have decided to grant access for more space, spreading these people among two secured decks. And yes, therefore, we will offer quarters among to share with crewmembers of those decks. I know how many of you feel at unrest of having Vaygr onboard and about this more or less 'political situation' - but remember, it is we who represent and serve the agenda of the Kiith Amaj. These Vaygr are still living beings -"

"Yeah, right..." somebody quietly whispered among the groups of crewmen and officers.

"- Alas, there is much organization and work to do... "

Listening only partially, Hailynn started daydreaming as the Captain and another officer next to him continued announcing assignments to other officers and operatives. Minutes already passed by and she still held her hot coffee. A long day stood before her, but with these assignments 'handed' to others, she guess that she was only going to have a quiet shift at the bridge after all.

"-_Hey_!" Kaydaana's voice quietly said to her right ear.

"Huh- What?"

"Wake up – The Captain just called yer name, old lady..."

"Why you...!" She whispered angrily back, then said, louder, "Yes sir, sorry, I was distracted." Hailynn hustled. Having all eyes on her, everybody other than the Captain knew she was daydreaming.

"- As I said, Commander. Before you return to the bridge, I have an important task for you. I wish you to negotiate with the Vaygr fighter pilot. He is considered the leader and seems to be the cause for the refugees' successful escape. He is the one who knows what is going on in this system. If you want, you are allowed to take volunteers with you for this task – However, I'm sure you will be able to lead this negotiation alone as well. After negotiations, you are to return the bridge and state a report to me later. And remember, he is not a prisoner. Among the refugees, both the rescued Hiigaran and the Vaygr refugees see him as a hero and savior. We must accept this fact."

Kaydaana shoved her way in front of Hailynn.

"Captain – it would be mah honor and pleasuuure to support the Commander with this task, sir," Kaydaana proudly announced, "You can count on us getting all the information out of that man."

Before Hailynn was able to intervene verbally with Kaydaana's intentions, Hailynn's waist was subtly grabbed by a handful.

"Kn-Knock it off – This is going too far!" Hailynn whispered angrily.

The uniform skirt for female commanding officers, whilst being authentic with slick fashionable aspects, unfortunately consisted of simple strap-on Velcro fastening layers. Though thoughtfully developed and secured, the developers still added a simple mechanism of detaching such skirt by hand; for some reason, this mechanism is often used as a prank for embarrassments and jokes during off-duty times in female changing rooms – some say it is tradition by amaji women to pull such pranks.

Revealing only the side of her left eye, Kaydaana mischievously whispered back, "You ain't doing this without me! And don't try stoppin' me. One pull and I'll have you, your skirt and that coffee regret it!"

_Never interfere or get in the way with a Mananni woman's intentions_, some say...

Kaydaana had her... It was the thought that Hailynn could not believe. She was really persuading her to not say a word – and she didn't even care how embarrassed Hailynn would be standing like. Stupid to think of two military women doing such childish things, and yet, Kaydaana knew Hailynn's weak spots.

"I wish to support, too," another soft voice said from aside. Both looking to their side, they discovered Aira volunteering to come with Hailynn as well.

"Very well. You two, please support Commander Delixa the best you can," the Captain said, accepting the volunteers before Hailynn could even say a word. "You are all dismissed. Pride."

"Awww-right!" Kaydaana cheered. 

**- Negotiation -**

Deck seven. Detention section.  
Everything happened too fast. This was not how Hailynn expected this to happen. Sighing loudly, she took a sip from her coffee, trying to kill her slight depression.

Making their way to the brig where the Vaygr pilot was held, both women and the girl remained silent, having Aira acting as the border between the two. The Kadeshi girl had no idea how much tension there was between the two, since she only thought about the warmth she felt within them – almost enjoying the possibility of accompanying them. Arriving at the brig, they spotted two marines holding guard in front of the sealed access door.

Needless to say, Hailynn heard Kaydaana's breathing picking up. She was _burning_ to meet this man.

Noticing the two officers and the girl approaching, both marines stood up straight, upheld their rifles and saluted.

"At ease, men."  
"Thank you, ma'am," the corporal said, "How may we serve, Commander?"  
"We are here on behalf of the Captain to interro- I mean - _negotiate _with the Vaygr pilot."

"What's he been doing so far?" Kaydaana interfered loudly, practically ignoring the respects to the command chain totally – but knowing the Manaani 'reputation', both marines already _feared_ her.

"Y-Yes ma'am. Actually, I am not sure what to report," the corporal replied.  
"Not much, ma'am," the private aside to the corporal added, "He has been doing _nothing_ for the last six hours."

"What?", both women questioned with a surprised note in their voices.  
"Aside to him sitting for the first hour, he stood up and just acted like a statue, only staring at the wall all the time. All he asked for was to have the lights dimmed to low and later off and he did not eat or drink at all."

"Hmm. Strange..."

"Mysteriousss. I want to meet him, now. Open the door!" Kaydaana demanded with a sharp tongue.

Both marines looked at each other. The corporal looked at the private, confused. Just the looks of the face of the private practically said '_do as she said or we're doomed_'...

Making a head movement, the corporal silently ordered the private to open the sealed door.

"We should be aw-right in there. We do not wish to be disturbed!" Kaydaana's majestic voice notified.

Both marines looked at Hailynn, who only could just shake her head, answering '_Don't ask – do as she said_' without saying a word.

Entering the first door, the three waited until the door closed behind them, before the second was to reveal the man they wished to negotiate with. The door behind them sealed and left was only the breathing was left to be heard – and only Kaydaana's breathing sounded anxious, a lot more than Aira's. With several tones being heard, the second access door slid open, revealing a large and darkened room.

The three slowly entered the room, staring at a tall figure several steps ahead that stood with his back towards them. Keeping a fair distance to the figure, they remained right where they stood. Setting her coffee slowly upon the table in the middle of the room with her left hand and moving her other hand readily upon her holstered sidearm, Hailynn cleared her throat and opened her mouth... Not a single word left her mouth. Finally, she stood only a few steps from the man who had answers and yet she did not know how to start... She tried to snap out of her silent astonishment, but she remained startled. There was something mysterious about him indeed.

The head of the tall figure turned slightly, looking over his shoulder. An outright slow and deep voice spoke, "What is wrong... Never seen a Vaygr?".

The mysterious figure turned around, making a single step ahead, revealing more of himself. Standing upright, he was a tall man, being a head taller than Hailynn and a lot more than Kaydaana.

His skin was dark, darker than Kaydaana's and he was bald. From the nose to the chin, the man's face was covered by a strange think oxygen mask. Judging his appearance, he still wore a visibly heavy flight suit, the majority of it black with straight red stripes and lines but also with scratches revealing that it had been used for a very long time. Several thick protective harnesses were among his shoulder, torso, legs and knees along with detached hook points. Apparently, he did not his heavy gear off – he was still wearing it. A strong and tall man, he was - as always said of Vaygr men.

His eyes seemed strained. Both of them slightly pinched together as they focused upon the three. There was no chance in guessing his age, but he was neither rather old nor young – His age was simply undistinguishable; wild guesses being somewhere between the 30s to the 50s. Nonetheless, the upper half of his face revealed that he had a history of his own.

"Who are you?" his deep voice asked.

Making a step ahead, Hailynn moved slightly before the two others and replied with a firm, "I am Commander Hailynn Delixa of the Kiith Amaj, executive officer, thus second-in-command, and senior and chief navigator of this ship, the _Vjel-Amaj_."

A smirk came from the Vaygr pilot, "I see. So, _you_ are that 'Lady Commander'. So, Lady-Commander – "

Kaydaana, who gave Hailynn enough time in her eyes, took a step aside to her, proudly interrupting, "I'm Kaydaana of the Manaan, Lieutenant Colonel and proud commander of the strikecraft squadron aboard!"

His view turned to the loud-mouthed woman. With her skin being slightly lighter than his, with her eyes and voice practically fiery and an attitude like no other, he easily assumed that this woman just had to be the same wild pilot during the torpedo run. Leaning his head to the left, he spotted the third person; a girl with strange eyes and clothes unlike the other two women who wore militaristic uniforms.

"A.. Kadeshi... girl – here onboard a Hiigaran ship. Are you out of your minds? A Manaani hotshot and a lady-commander? Where is the captain – or does he only have woman onboard?"  
"It's a natural thing of seeing more women than men on this ship, Vaygr. But to answer your question - He is busy with other tasks. So in his place, we are the ones to-" Hailynn replied, but the Vaygr man interrupted.

"- to interrogate me," he finished and crossed his arms, "I should have known I was going to end up as a prisoner of war. However. I was not expecting a welcoming embrace from you anyways. '_All good deeds are never left unpunished_'. Now, why am I being kept in captivity for so long? Trying to break my will with seven hours of nothing? Be aware, all of you hiigarans on this ship, we Vaygr are patient people."

"First of all, Vay-gr, I am the one to be asking questions here. Second of all, this is an amaji ship."

His deep voice sounded annoyed, "So. _THIS_, is what this is all about. Well. Let us get on with this – _interrogation_. Go ahead. Ask. 'Why are you here?', 'Why were we pursued by Vaygr and Kadeshi?', 'Why were both Hiigarans and Vaygr being chased?' Go ahead, Lady-Commander!" 

"Alright. Fine, you damn Vaygr -!" Hailynn harshly remarked, getting angry herself, but Aira suddenly pulled her hand. Looking down, she shyly hid behind her. The girl shook her head shortly and seemed somewhat scared at her and the Vaygr man.

Feeling anger rushing through her veins, Hailynn needed to take a deep breath to calm herself down. Aira needed not to say anything, for Hailynn nearly took the wrong approach. Her hatred was close to an outburst. Even Kaydaana seemed surprised, though not much, but this was unusual to see Hailynn so enraged – and she was not even teased by her.

"Look," the Hiigaran woman continued after calming her voice, "I must - apologize."

Loosening her shoulders and her pose, she arranged herself to a more comfortable stance alike Kaydaana, leaning her body on one side and placing her hand upon her advanced hip, letting go of the grip of her sidearm. Taking one short glimpse to the floor, Hailynn's thoughts shortly reminded her of the destroyed freighter, the words of the man before they were killed. He was thankful for all the efforts of this Vaygr man... and _never were she to let prejudice lead her mind_, he plead...

Lifting her head again, she took another step closer and sat down on the table, looking up at the man.

Slightly embarrassed, Hailynn showed an open her hand, "Please, sit down."

Refusing her suddenly polite demand, he remained where he stood, "I prefer to stand..."

"I must apologize for my harsh words. Let us start this differently. Please, tell us the whole story. It was said that a mining corporation needed evacuation," she said to him, looking up at her with a odd glance, "We never expected such thing like this… to happen.."

Silence filled the room for several moments.

"As you wish, Hiigaran commander. I will explain," the Vaygr man reconsidered and straightened his back before he explained the whole story. Listening closely, the three leaned forward slightly, urging to hear his words as they stared at this tall man:

"With the fall of Lord Makaan, we, the once believed Sajuuk'Khem - the followers of Makaan -, have fallen into despair and instability. Makaan's order is dissipating among the Vaygr galaxy and with his dying order, the supreme hegemony. My crusading clan has claimed a portion this independent region as its territory and has dismantled most of its military power among it. You, Hiigarans, may not believe, but we - my clan, my brethren - are... war-weary. The restless seek for the Sajuuk died with Makaan - and with it our pledge to the 'Pax Vay'. Do not misunderstand. We are _still_ Vaygr..."

There was a pause in his speech and again there was that silence aside to the faint humming of the life supporting system.

"This system with its vast and near endless enclosing nebula among its sun seemed to be the perfect place for us to finally settle down. Soon, my brethren and I discovered that this system was already claimed by independent Hiigarans. There was a moment of conflict, but our intention was not conquest. We only wanted to end our quest - not by gaining Sajuuk, but for a place in the galaxy what you Hiigarans call... a 'Homeworld'."

Kaydaana's eyes widened.

"With the dismantling of our seeking fleet, we began to live in co-existence with the Hiigarans and it took almost two years for us to integrate with their kind and of course, vice versa - Our way of life with theirs. Unfortunately, with the end of the hatred to each other, several disturbing occasions occurred. Other hostile clans have heard word of our... defection. They were merely disgusted of our behavior and have declared both my clan and the Hiigarans to be liquidated. But that is not all... The appearance of the Kadeshi have surprised us as well."

Aira came closer to Hailynn's back.

"Not only have the hostile Vaygr crusades declared death to be brought upon us, the Kadeshi have somehow discovered this system. All I can say is that those fanatic zealots and martyrs slaughtered many of us, having their mothership as the root of all terror, crusading through the system and annihilating those they call 'unclean' – those who 'desecrated' this somehow, for them, sacred system."

"Esh'no nadara..." Aira said in her kadeshi language.  
"What?", Kaydaana asked.  
"My... people must have discovered Rahji... They must be... Pilgrims... Seekers... A tale was told of those who seek Kadesha's lost loved one..."

"Whatever. They are not alone and they are dangerous. Deciding to send a distress call to Hiigara, the leaders of the Hiigarans urged us all to escape this system... Nonetheless, preparations took too long. The hostile Vaygr crusades have dispatched strike groups among the system, led by remnants under the lead of one of Makaan's superior tribe. Both, Hiigaran and my Vaygr people, are spread among this system, their fate is unknown – but due to the fact that only a few made it to the proclaimed 'Rally-Point', I assumed they are dead as their signals were no longer transmitted during the last phase of retreat. All I know is that these people onboard this hiiga-... a-ma-ji ship are somewhat in safety - at least better than blindly trying to escape without any true far-reaching hyperspace capabilities out of this system. With the remote torpedo frigates pursuing us, there was no real chance in escaping anyhow. We were simply not ready for any sort of deep space travel... and if it were not for the appearance of this vessel, death would have consumed us all. You must understand that these people, both Hiigaran and Vaygr, have formed families – and believe it or not, they are bond each other – you hiigarans have this word for it – loov or 'love', I do not know about this. Although I have not founded a family alike my brethren, these people are whom I fight for... Something I can at least do for the sake of something... _good_. Hence, I still do understand your grudge against us Vaygr and my status as a prisoner of war – and I will... obey. "

Hearing his words, Hailynn looked up upon him again, "You are mistaken. Yes, I... and actually all of us Hiigarans have our grudge against you, Vaygr. You have killed many of us, terrorized thousands and millions. But... There is something I am about to do - and won't believe what I am about to do."

Hailynn's face seemed worried, but it seemed as if she just made a decision... A conclusion that seemed to worry her deeply. Pulling her handgun from the holster, both Aira and Kaydaana looked surprised.

"I hate Vaygr..." Hailynn's voice suddenly said with a hatred tone and for this moment, tension suddenly filled the room...

But the tension held itself back. Hailynn's hand laid the handgun on the table and shoved it to the middle, away from her and closer to the Vaygr pilot.

"...but I can't hate forever. I may be Hiigaran, but I serve the Kiith Amaj and its prides. If it is true what you say, then I must learn to adapt to this... situation... and as I said: You are mistaken. You are _not_ a prisoner of war."

"I am not?"

Kaydaana laid her handgun as well upon the table.  
"This may be the first time, but I'm with Haileh on this one", the Manaani woman proclaimed, "But there is one thing I want to know, Vaygr. I have question."  
"Go ahead."  
"What is your name?" she curiously asked and took a step ahead. Her eyes anxiously awaited an answer.  
"I must disappoint you, brave Manaani woman. I do not possess a name."

"Whuuu-aaaaat?" Kaydaana said and dropped her shoulders slightly.  
"You must know that we Vaygr are not Hiigarans who were born with a name given. Only those who are lords of such, those who are strong that prevail, those who will live long may hold a name... I am only a fighter pilot. Our lifespan is not long. With death's grip always among us, those who fall, will always be forgotten. That is the Vaygr way. For us pilots, to ever live a long life... with a family... never was a goal for us. Death in battle was always seen as an honor for the clan. That is, at least until we met these Hiigarans. I am the last of those able to fight. Those who fought to protect these people have sacrificed themselves already for the sake of their lives. And as the last defender, I have pledged to protect these people. They may look up to me – but there will come a time where I will fall once they have cleared this system. I will pay for my _guilt_... According to my experience with the Hiigarans over all this time, it appears that death brings greatest sorrows. However, without a family - without a name, none will be able shed a tear – perhaps my only way to refrain them from such... sorrows. "

Kaydaana frowned slightly, needless to say how much his story and the '_Vaygr way of life and death_' depressed her.  
Hailynn stood up, "As the commander of the _Vjel-Amaj_, I welcome you aboard. I must confess that your presence is... disturbing... for me... but it is I who must apologize. It is I who must understand that we are not enemies. And no, I will no longer force you only to stay in the brig. Under guard, you are free to move among the ship, excluding the armory and the engineering. But I assure you that we will bring all of you to safety and out of this dreaded system."

"And don't worry about ah name, man, we will find one for yah," Kaydaana proudly added, "Nod ah simple task but I'll take care of yah!"

Hearing the words of Hailynn and Kaydaana, it seemed as if the tension between them and the Vaygr dissipated...

Aira suddenly moved ahead and away from Hailynn and approached the very tall man. Silence filled the room once again.

_What was her intention_?

Unexpectedly, Aira's arms rose and circled the man's waist... 

Surprised, both Hailynn and Kaydaana's eyes broadened as Aira gave the man an embracing welcome.

Aira truly was an _odd_ Kadeshi girl.


	7. Chapter 7 Grudge and Hatred

Special thanks to Betareader "SOTS" from Fanfiction net, id=1474306

**Chapter 7 – Grudge and Hatred**

**- Ray –**

Walking through one of the main corridors of the ship, a group of four made their way along. Catching the view of the very unfamiliarly and unexpectingly tall person accompanied by two high-ranking officer women {officers} and a Kadeshi girl, several operatives and other crewmembers freed the passage as their eyes stared and followed the tall man's movements as he passed by.

"Vaygr," Hailynn asked, gaining his attention as he followed them, "Why is it that you are still wearing your full gear? Haven't my men offered you any _other_{_any_ other} clothing?"  
"...As if they would have his size..." Kaydaana snitched in between.{muttered under her breath.}  
"I deny to lay off my gear, {refuse to remove my gear,} Commander Delixa. I must always be ready. I am not used to... being too long onboard a ship."  
"I see."  
"If I may ask... What is the status of my fighter?"

"Your fighter? Well, I am not sure myself, but I can figure that out. Hang on."

Adjusting her shoulder-unit, the radio focused on the intercom frequency as Hailynn called, ""Delixa to Cargo Bay II. Please respond.""

Only taking a short moment {A brief pause followed. Then}, a voice replied, ""Technical Engineer Zann responding. How may I help you, ma'am?""  
""I would like to hear a maintenance report. How's the Vaygr fighter? ""  
""Yes, ma'am. Repairs are almost complete,"" the voice explained, ""The Vaygr fighter has sustained heavy damage to two of its four stabilizers and suffered only minor hull damage, but we handled it during the last few hours. Certain components did not match but we still managed to compensate. Flechette rail weaponry and overall propulsion systems have been maintained. According to the maintenance teams, the fighter is soon to {will soon} be ready for anything again.""  
""Understood. Thank you, T-E. Over and out.""  
""No problem, Ma'am. Over and out."" A hiss of static, then the line clicked closed.

"Good to know. Thank you for the maintenance."  
"A mighty fighter ya got there. We will some day see if it can take on my Acolyte. But anyways - Ya not plannin' to leave us so soon, are ya, big guy?" Kaydaana interrupted and approached the man's arm, somewhat hugging it friendly {loping her arm through his}. Hailynn was still surprised to see her being so over-friendly to {all over} this man. Somehow, she seemed to have totally forgotten that the Hiigaran Empire actually still stood at war against the Vaygr remnants.

He seemed uneasy, "Staying so long onboard a ship is unusual for me. I prefer to idle aside in space, Colonel Manaan..."

"Hey-hey. We've been through that – Friends call mahself 'Kaydy'!", the Manaani woman replied, laying her hand upon herself.  
"We... are friends?", the man asked and looked down at the rather small woman hugging his arm. She did not answer, but her smile on her face and her joy as she accompanied him said it all. The man had no idea why both the Manaani and the Kadeshi girl were welcoming him. For sure, this was nothing alike before. Whereas extreme dislike, doctrines and hatred ruled the Vaygr lifestyle, this was the total opposite. Hailynn already sensed the {his} cultural shock.

Shortly speaking by the Manaani language, with many lingual {grammatical} mistakes, but not understandable by the Vaygr and Aira, Hailynn secretly remarked to Kaydaana, "Vaygr he was, Kaydaana. Hiigaran you are, why you fool around with him?"  
Pinching her eyes together, the Manaani woman replied with a suddenly soft and quiet reply in the same language, "To mah bretheren, I am proud. To mah enemy, I am Hiigaran... but to those who prove worthy of mah respect, I am Manaani." {To my brethren, I am proud. To my enemy, I am Hiigaran... but to those who prove worthy of my respect, I am Manaani." _If her accent speaking the 'standard' Hiigaran tongue is due to her Manaani heritage, then she would appear to have no accent speaking Manaani. Indeed, it would be _Hailynn_ with the accent._}  
"Hoo-boy," Hailynn sighed and took a sip from her 'long-life' covered black hot coffee.  
"Hey. Are yah gonna drink that thing all day long?!" Kaydaana snarled as she hugged the arm of her 'trophy'.  
"Knock it off, Kay'."  
"Maybe I _should_...!"  
"Never _mess_ the coffee of a marine - you should know that."

"Oh you - " Kaydaana was about to say, but then saw one female operative staring at the size of the heavily suited Vaygr pilot. His natural but unintentional and rather intimidating appearance was so astonishing that it merely took her breath as her back gently knocked against the side of the corridor. "-Hey! Wha'cha starin' at! Huh?!"

Dragging the man ahead, Kaydaana started blabbering the hesitant man full with so many things, starting with what to see onboard and bragging about his and her flight skills. {Kaydaana pelted the bewildered man with statements and boasts, pointing to this point of interest and that pilot, noting destructive capabilities and bragging about flight abilities.} With both distracted by Kaydaana's rapid-fire-chatter, Hailynn fell back slightly with a sigh and looked upon Aira, who slowly walked aside of her.

"Hey, Aira..." Hailynn asked.  
"Yes, Hailynn?"  
"Back at the brig... Why did you... _hug_ the guy? He is... Vaygr... y'know. _Vaygr_."

It took several steps until Aira found the courage to answer, "I-I felt sorry for him, my naji..."

"What?"

"We, I mean, the Vaygr ...and I..." the girl replied hesitantly, "We are both... _alone_... in a way. He may have his people onboard, but they are not like him. Those to whom he truly belonged – the ones that protected the weak- died along their path to freedom. He is the last defender. He may be... Vaygr... but he is quietly suffering all the losses... More lives were lost besides the lost souls of the freighter. I only felt sorry for him and... wanted to share m-my consideration... Not judging his soul by his past, not as a murderer as those may see him... I embraced him, hoping he would feel being accepted as I was..."

Hailynn had to smile and gently shake her head for moment. She did not see things at all from the perspective of this Kadeshi girl. However, Hailynn moved her face to the left, somewhat hiding it from the girl as her odd happiness focused upon the man ahead. There was a disturbing feeling in her... her instincts as a Hiigaran shouting of this man's nature – _He is __Vaygr__. His heritage, a legacy determined to conquer space through ruthless expansion and war.  
But how can you __only __oversee this and forgive him_? _You are a strange girl..._

Trying to keep peace of mind, the Vaygr man haltingly slowed down from being dragged, trying to focus his attention on Hailynn. Subtly yet obvious, Kaydaana still pulled his arm, trying to keep his attention onto her but she was a weak woman after all...

What an embarrassment and insult for a Manaani...

"Commander Delixa. I must say I am..." his eyes flicked to the side, then back at hers, "... _pleased_ to be welcomed aboard, but I do insist to be dispatched and to maintain guard formation aside this vessel as soon as possible."  
"I will think about it. However, before we send out anybody, we might be hyperjumping out of this system – so maybe launching now would be unnecessary. That is, as soon as I figure our current status at the bridge."  
"Oh please don't leav'us so soon, Ray...gr," Kaydaana accidentally pronounced due to her passionate Manaani accent.  
"R'aygr?"  
The Manaani woman clapped her hands, "That's it! I think I found'a name for yah, big guy."  
"Manaani, I am not a Vaygr lord. I do not possess a title or name. I must earn it by..."  
"Yah have rescued lives nearly with yers nearly being sacrificed. That enough honor for the Kiith Manaani – and with the sake of the divinity and mine of course." She smirked. "With yah calling refuge and asylum to the Hiigaran Empire, ya'll be needin' one anyways, Ray."

"-but-"  
"No 'buts', Ray!" Kaydaana replied and squeezed his arm more with a somewhat staggering glance... a Manaani glance that even disarmed {forestalled} this strong man from debating. Not even a Vaygr was able to resist.

-Sigh-

**  
- Pethera... -**

(narrative voice)  
Space... The endless sea... vast... mysterious. Sailing among violent ethereal waves of hyperspace, navigational precision never is precise... Some say meeting an unexpected voyager in the endless sea is impossible...  
(end of a smiling narration)

The bridge.  
Manned with the primary shift, many of commanding officers and lead operatives of the bridge have already returned, coordinating and maintaining internal interactions of the ship. Serenity seemed to fill Hailynn's soul as she heard and felt the flow of the 'bridge's atmosphere' upon her.

Entering the bridge, many views turned towards the group as Officer Orelis announced "Commander on deck!".

Surprised to see a Vaygr – in other words, the enemy- many faces turned into astonishment.

"Greetings... Commander... What is -?" Orelis insisted to ask, but was simply surprised by the appearance of the Vaygr man. Approaching Orelis, Hailynn took another sip from her coffee.

"Don't worry, Orelis – Everybody. He's on our side," Hailynn announced to everybody throughout the bridge, "Just to make it short: He and his people are requesting asylum and we will accept their plea – That is, at least, it is up to us to return to them to Hiigaran space."

They heard her words, but their eyes seemed to ignore their commander. The stares were signing the Vaygr man that this was border {Their stares seemed to scour an invisible line into the deck before the Vaygr pilot.}. He did not want to put another step closer. Never had they come so close to a Vaygr , not to mention... a probable descendant of the Taiidan – They did not know. Nonetheless, a few eyes stared with hatred upon this Vaygr man, as a possible _murderer..._ of the Vaygr imaginably stained with Hiigaran blood.

Albeit sensing his endeavoring appeal for returning to the cold space, Aira approached his side and offered him an open hand. Observing his reaction, he hesitated as he looked down on the partially beautifully tattooed Kadeshi, waiting for him to respond. Making a move, he reacted by laying his rather huge hand upon Aira's open hand, who then guided him further ahead into the bridge.

Leaning over, Officer Orelis whispered into Hailynn's ear from behind, "The deck is all yours, Hailynn. I'll keep cool - But hey, does the Captain actually _know_ about this?"

Clenching her teeth suddenly together, Hailynn totally forgot that she was supposed to report to the Captain about her negotiations... not even thinking how reckless it was to actually bring a Vaygr to the bridge...

Still gritting her teeth, she responded quietly, "You. Are. Dismissed...!" and looked around excitedly with her eyes.

Just as Hailynn was about to say something else, her eyes discovered another 'stranger' among the bridge crew at the side, accompanying the operatives overwatching the mining operations and observatory station. Scanning the person with her eyes, the person was a Hiigaran woman, a Sjet scientist having a conversation. As usual, those Kiith Sjet always had something technical upon them. A sophisticated single-eye visor set upon her head, forehead implants for communication and many other gadgets hidden under her scientific overall made it easy to distinguish to which Kiith this woman truely belonged. Unlike the usual Sjet women of the Kiith, she possessed short, smooth and glossy pale white hair that barely bypassed touched her shoulders. Her age for sure alike {Her age looked close to} Hailynn's.

The edge of Hailynn's mouth frowned slightly... for this woman belonged to the same mining crew of Dr. Asad, that greedy miner of the Kiith Paktu, along other LiirHralis and Nabaalis. Arrogant enough, the Sjet scientist did not even seem to have interest or concerns of a vaygr breathing the same air. Hailynn had neither the nerve nor the interest and patience to check the records according to Asad's team before the departure of the _Vjel-Amaj_... another lesson learned.

Though blessing Karan Sjet, the Hiigaran 'lady-commander' as the Vaygr called her was already developing a grudge to nearly all Kiithids serving among the ranks of Kiith Amaj. Those people, though supportive every now and then, had their own intentions and plans... but as for the dreaded team of Dr. Asad, they were independent, taking all events within this system as a chance for gaining wealth, fame and power through knowledge and harvest - even for the cost of falling in danger or worse. For Hailynn, it was unsure if the Captain was forced by Amaji superiors, self-interested or simply was kind to say 'yes' to take civilian crewmen with other intentions among a somewhat desperate mission like this one.

Needless to say, a military officer and a civilian scientist stood worlds, if not galaxies, apart.

"So. This is the command citadel of this vessel..."

"...The heart and soul... valiant one," Aira added softly, giving him already another name to the Vaygr man for her own. For sure, this Kadeshi girl was seeing this man with different eyes.

Approaching the scientist whose awareness only focused on the large screens of the observatory station, Hailynn moved aside to the scientist and asked, "So... You are...?"

The female scientist who for sure had more hair than Karan shortly turned her head and greeted, "Pride, Amaji. I am lead scientist and astronomer Dr. Pethera Sjet, chief associate of Dr. Asad's research team," before turning her head back to the screen – only letting herself being distracted shortly.

Hailynn quietly nodded and crossed her arms, "So you _belong_ to Dr. Asad?" she somewhat stupidly remarked.  
"It is... more the _other way around_, Commander. He may be Chief-Executive-Officer of the mining crew, but that is about it."  
"Tell me, what are you doing right now?"

"If I must... I am monitoring Dr. Asad and his mineral extraction team, who have entered the fields, through your observatory station. Both of these operatives have kindly allowed and assisted me in the exploration and discovery of new regions within these fields. We have consulted several deep scans and recorded many unexplored elements amid the deeps of the sector and -"

As she proudly explained further, Hailynn observed her expressions and gestures as the endless streams of words and explanations left her lips. The eyes of the astronomer as she explained revealed her deepest interests, desires and greed into digging and seeking deeper into these dreaded fields of gases, fluent energy fields and minerals. She was merely obsessed by what the divine galaxy was offering, if not even more than Dr. Asad.

"- and with the discovery of these high yield regions beyond, I cannot wait until they return."

Hailynn became more disgruntled, though silently.

"Excuse me for a moment, Doctor," Hailynn said and turned herself over to Orelis, who stood further away as he supervised other stations, "Orelis. Can you give me a report on our current position and status?"

Orelis turned himself over, "Yes, ma'am. According to the night shift, cruise flight has been pretty quiet – Nothing to report there. Engineering concentrated on maintaining the hyperspace module systems in the meantime and trying to optimize all propulsion systems to the best possible standard."

She took another sip from her coffee.

"After reaching our current position, and several of his team have dispatched three 'bees' and the 'hive,'" he explained further, referring to the collectors and a mobile cargoship for additional storage, "We have maintained this position for nearly 2 hours and have already filled two of our three mining storages. As far as I can say, all is going smooth. The field ahead is the only thing pretty dense here – but there is some good news to mention, actually."

"Good news?"

Waving his hand over to Dr. Pethera Sjet, it seemed as if she could explain more.

"Yes, Commander Delixa. Despite not having the sensory station manned, we discovered a small region – a patch - of stars beyond the enveloping gas shrouds of this star system. Thanks to our astronomical knowledge and the help of these two operatives, we have been able to identify the stars and pinpoint a possible jump point to a safer region in space once our mining efforts are done. All I can say is that jumping this way would primarily require the support of the sensory station. Jumping from a different jumppoint would distort our navigational discovery and we would be forced to find a different and lesser dense region."

If it were for Hailynn, she would immediately order a jump out of this place just to leave that Paktu behind. As she listened to their words, Hailynn discovered a large object slowly moving upon the screen, showing that it was not that far away from the position of the _Vjel-Amaj_. Infact, it was a very humongous object.

"- and what is that moving thing? That's a damn large dot on that screen."

"It is a harmless 'class-R' comet, ma'am. It is currently bypassing this sector. Its mass is smaller than any common moon and its exterior mainly consists of frozen water and of unknown solid material beneath, leaving a tail beyond our sensorial reach, but just with a rough guess, I assume it is around 1 HU. With other words, we are witnessing an event that will only take place once, according to its angle towards the central sun that we have estimated. Likely, it will either result in the loss of its exterior or totally be consumed by the sun. Also, judging by its angle, we have discovered that this comet is a 'rogue' body according to its major parabolic manner of its path, probably originating from a distant star – maybe a dead star, we do not know. Mr. Quan, could you focus a screen upon it?"

"Yes, ma'am," the operative said and began using his console.

Yeah right, do everything this sexy lady says... Wait a minute – Alike a lightning bolt striking through her mind, Hailynn discovered that she must have been the same woman her former squadmate was talking about at the messhall last night. The boring talking – the endless explanations of astronomical things... It had to be her. Within a short moment, one of the main screens revealed a deep blue and frozen object, leaving a trail as it floated ahead throughout the regions of the endless fields.

Hailynn stared upon the screen.

Something affected her... The comet itself, originating from a distant star, while it was for others perhaps alike an 'alien' being intruding – for Hailynn however, her deepest feelings told her it was a lost stranger, a foreigner, not knowing where to go. Beyond the reach of its distant home, it flew across the galaxy... only to perhaps die alone.

Ever since Aira told the tale of Kadesha and Rahji, Hailynn seemed to have become affected by the melancholy of those ancient lost wayfarers. Coming closer Aira herself seemed to be affected by the view as well, as Pethera revealed the screen, showing possible originations of the comet – her hand crossing the path of the 'Garden of Kadesh.' Truth or not, fact or belief, Hailynn felt somewhat attracted by it – just like the girl. There were so many similarities between Hailynn's past, her former Kiith and the way how Aira told the tale.

Turning her head, Pethera immediately focused her view upon Aira, whose eyes sparkled, knowing that she saw a religious meaning to this - again. She sighed.

"I know what you are thinking, Kadeshi. You are probably thinking this must be some kind of '_weeping_ tear of Kadeshia' sent oh-so-far to this 'Rahul' or 'Rahji'... " Pethera suddenly said with a firm voice, "- I heard your _story_ back at the messhall. But keep your foolish Kadeshi thoughts of this to yourself. It is pure coincidence that we are witnessing this event."

Her words were disrespectful. Hailynn really started to hate this woman, for she had absolutely no respect to the thoughts of the others. Staring with hatred, Hailynn narrowed her eyes – Pethera's words were truly insulting Aira as well as herself.

"-But let's forget about that comet – It has nothing to do with the birth of this system and before we have to hear more bragging of a child about fanatic tales of _Kadeshi __prophets_. I have never heard of such nonsense. Everybody knows this system used to possess a humongous gas giant that just... well... died – we will figure that out soon enough: by the pure facts of science. The reason for the death of this supreme gas giant is within this system and I am sure we will find it – and if we must stay in this system forever, _I __can order it_. And I admit that I am _glad _these damn Vaygr and our people were in distress. Such great opportunity for us to venture into this system and uncover its _secrets_ - its _treasure_. Once we have gathered enough resources, we will for sure venture deeper into this system. Even the sun is changing its color. We will figure this out, too. Perhaps we will even move closer to the sun to - "

"**SHUT-UP**!" Hailynn's voice thundered throughout the bridge.

All speech and activity ceased. Her shout was so loud that it even scared both Aira and Kaydaana, who actually was surprised and bumped against 'Ray', the 'nameless' Vaygr.  
Pethera, at first shocked, subtly straightened her body towards Hailynn, somewhat arrogantly presenting her 'beauty' and 'intelligence' and showing that Hailynn did not have much 'chance' against her.  
Tension and anxiety filled the bridge as all operatives, officers and the _guest_ stared upon two women about to stand a verbal fight. They both stood with their faces close to each other.

"Disrespectful targ – How dare you scream at me! Watch your mouth, Delixa, or -" Pethera argued but then felt a sudden cold object being pushed under her chin. Without a second thought, Hailynn shockingly drew her handgun and held it under Pethera's neck, and slowly spoke: "Listen, _Lady_. I don't care about you – but I will _NOT_ allow you to insult, desecrate the deaths of the losses we and the Vaygr suffered or disrespectfully spit on the belief of Aira and our new ally. Don't even _think_ about making us stay in this system any longer..."

Nobody insisted {tried} to interfere, the situation was already out of control. Aira did not know what to do. Making a short head movement, Hailynn signaled Aira and others to stay back and out of this.

"Are you insane?! Y-You are making a grave mistake... Hailey - You and Kiith Delixa will regret - ngh," Pethera aggressively replied but felt the muzzle of Hailynn's side arm being pushed even harder under her head.  
"That's... 'Hailynn of the Kiith Amaj'... All complaints to the Captain, fool - and get the _frell_ off my bridge!"

"You'll be _SORRY_ for - "

The dreaded sound of an armed handgun occurred - the _click_ of a safety catch being released, "Leave. The. FRAKKING. Bridge. Immediately!"

Several moments passed by.  
Not saying another word, it seemed as if Hailynn had success. Disarming her handgun, she shoved the handgun slowly into her hilted holster as the Sjet woman slowly moved herself away from the observatory station. Pethera's eyes flinkered, revealing that she was humiliated... A high-ranking Sjet insulted, humiliated and intimidated by a woman of a minor Kiith... She could not believe it.

Many were shocked of Hailynn's aggressive reaction, but there was a slight gratitude in her standing ground as a person whose dignity of others stood above her own. Hailynn took a short sip from her coffee as needed to calm herself down somehow and actually hide a shaky hand that nobody noticed.

Hailynn felt a cold shiver down her back as she still maintained her firm looks upon the dismissed Sjet scientist. With a humiliated face, Pethera gave a last short glare just before the she left the bridge with the gates closing behind. A somewhat murderous relief fell over Hailynn with a sigh.

For once, the Vaygr man curiously asked with his deep voice a question to Kaydaana who nervously stood next to his side, "Manaani, is this natural on Hiigaran vessels?"

Kaydaana slowly looked up at him, "Ya godda be kiddin', Ray..."

Holding her coffee with her left hand and her right upon the top her waist, Hailynn sighed again with her face looking to the ground and she stared at it several moments. She did lose her mind... She revealed a side of her that everybody witnessed and she would soon be in deep trouble for verbally harrassing a person of a higher Kiith... unfortunately one of the most worst laws to break as a military officer.

At first feeling a gentle bump to Hailynn's side, Hailynn additionally felt along a hideous, subtle and 'gentle' slap upon her buttock that nobody on the bridge saw. With her back outright straight and amazed, Kaydaana snitched, "Wow. I'ma... impressed, Hailey – Queen of mah dih-vine digniteh. Yah showed 'tuff-ness' there, lady – you sure you don't have a 'Manaani heart', mmmh?"

Orelis, who missed the slap like everybody else, stared with an astonished face, and slowly said, "-Um... That was... I don't know, but... I'm on your side, Hailey. But I have to admit that that... was not a good idea."

Hailynn looked away from them with a worried face... Looking back upon his console, Operative Quan heard a sound, a strange reading emitting...

"Uh – Commander. I'm picking up some strange readings here."  
"Hmm? Godda be those mining people," Kaydaana proposed.  
"Maybe... but I don't remember their ships emitting these type of readings -"

"**IEEEEEEP**!!!!!!" both Hailynn and Kaydaana suddenly shouted together. {Hailynn and Kaydaana both suddenly shouted in surprise, looking at the main screen.} The sudden jolt caused Hailynn to squeeze her coffee, causing her hot precious black gold to spill among her uniform. With their hearts skipping beats, both were surprised by the discovery of a sudden event happening very... _very_ close to the _Vjel-Amaj_, seen through the main screen of the observatory.

Again gaining the attention of the whole bridge crew, soon, everybody was soon to understand their sudden shocking reaction.

Appearing only several hundred meters away, a long gigantic object emerged aside the _Vjel-Amaj_... tainted yellow, black, and red among its hull. With the broadside revealing itself as the wavefront slid among its hull, their discovery merely staggered the whole bridge crew. Everybody stared at the screen...

"A... A... a... V-V-Vagyr.. B-BATTLECRUISER...?!" Kaydaana stuttered loudly with wide eyes.

It was breathtaking as it slowly floated aside the rather small and puny cruiser. The Vaygr Battlecruiser, the supreme force of the Vaygr naval forces, levitated as the wavefront field of its hyperspace jump collapsed behind...

"S-Sp-Space... The endless sea... –" was all Hailynn could say, reminding herself of a notable saying, as she could not calm down at all. Her heart was racing... and she was merely stunned by this sudden event nobody could have ever expected.  
"- Vast... mysterious..." Kaydaana continued, but then shouted thanks to her Manaani blood, "- AND A FRACKING BATTLECRUISER COMING OUT NEXT TO US!"

A slightly disorted voice suddenly spoke over all possible frequencies, ""Hive to 'Amaj, Hive to 'Amaj. This is Dr. Asad calling..." There was a pause. "Hellooo? Is this thing on? Hello? This is the Hive calling out to the _Vjel-Amaj_.""

Hailynn turned her head to the speaker above, hoping that person would **shut-up** immediately.


	8. Chapter 8

Special thanks to Betareader "SOTS" from Fanfiction net, id=1474306

author comment

The name "Scay'Gra" is originally based from "Scay'Gr" (Battle Isle : Incubation).  
end of comment

========================= 

Voices clamored all over the bridge.

"VAYGR BATTLECRUISER CONFIRMED!" someone shouted.

"Battlecruiser, port bow, distance two hundred-ninety metres."

Someone nearby hailed Hailynn's attention. "Commander? Your orders?"

She couldn't think. The panic at seeing the massive enemy vessel, combined with being assailed from all sides by frantic voices asking her for support, froze her on the spot. Everybody - operatives, officers... etc}

Everybody – operatives, officers... even Kaydaana - were calling out for her, but she did not react. Not even the burning hot coffee stain upon her uniform could awaken her.

_The pure death is out there, it has found us..._

With a struggling pull, both of Hailynn's shoulders were turned towards Kaydaana, who tried to gain her attention. Hailynn's mind was dazed, needless to say that she was sweating and breathing heavily. The manaani woman shook her several times. As Kaydaana shouted at her, she noticed that although Hailynn's body was turned towards her, her eyes however remained focused upon the gigantic screen, both wide, hypnotized and their pupils as thin as needles.

Shortly stopping her shouting, Kaydaana paused, before she decided to do something. The perhaps only way to Hailynn's her mesmerized state. Lifting her hand to a certain height, Kaydaana threw a sudden and unexpected open hand upon...

**Chapter 8 – Hailey's Comet**

*SPACK*

The sound of a loud and not so gentle slap cracked among the deck, ending all speeches as everybody were surprised by Kaydaana's sudden unusual action...Slapping a high-ranking officer without warning.  
With a surprised face, Hailynn turned her head towards Kaydaana, who still stared at her with her vicious green eyes. It was a painless smack... but it somewhat violently broke the mental blockade within Hailynn's mind. Hailynn stared towards Kaydaana... with her face astonished... not to mention her red cheek...

"_SNAP_ outta it, NOW!" Kaydaana ferociously shouted at Hailynn.

"Y-you..." Hailynn stuttered... she wanted to say something, but her eyes turned back at the screens revealing the battlecruiser.

"- NO no! Look 't _me_!" the dark-skinned woman shouted again and again and turned Hailynn's head.

"Th-the -"

"Damn it! Snap outta it! We're not dead YET!" Kaydaana yelled at Hailynn with her own hands squeezing Hailynn's shoulders, "Ah know yah need – another smack!" she snapped and rose her hand again.

But just as Kaydaana swung her hand, Hailynn's reflexes reacted by catching her arm at the midst of the swing and focused her eyes on the tan-skinned woman.

"Don't ever smack me again, Kaydy, or I'll -!" Hailynn shouted back at her but again paused. Kaydaana smiled joyfully, _but why_?

It took a second until Hailynn finally had some control over herself again but understood what actually freed her. It was Kaydaana's slap that woke her from her shock.

"Finally – Yah back -!"

Hailynn only gave a faint but akward surprised smile. She had control over her mind, but her body was still at unease. Feeling a soft hand, Hailynn's hand were gently touched and held by both of Aira's hands, who threw a very troubled glare. Looking around at the bridge, everybody had his or her eyes upon Hailynn, anxiously awaiting her reaction.

What were they to do and worried if they were to survive, their eyes seemed to ask.

She felt it - It was all up to Hailynn. 

"- We..." the female commander said to Kaydaana, whose mouth reminded open as she stared upon Hailynn.

This can't be the end.  
The pure death was out there, but it had not struck upon them... _yet_. For the sake of Aira and the lives onboard, Hailynn's body jolted as she suddenly shouted, "WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! CONDITION **RED**!

**- Hunt -**

With the whole ship suddenly alerting condition red status, anxiety spread among the whole ship, many of them not knowing what was going on. Men and women ran to their stations and as this occurred, the lighting within the bridge flashed at first deep red, then darkened the whole area, dimming all artificial lighting of every stations while only maintaining a red lights among certain areas of the bridge. Hailynn, who threw a look at the gigantic vessel, only saw one way to _survive_.

The deep voice of the Vaygr pilot, who probably was the only one who remained calm, said, "I recognize the vessel. That must be the crusade's flagship of the 'Scay'Gra' – The same flagship that is leading the clan's hunt for all of your and _my people_ throughout this system. Our situation is critical."

"Shad-dup, Ray...!" Kaydaana snarled... and immediately apologized – surprisingly.

"Everybody, listen up!", Hailynn shouted, gaining everybody's attention, "We need to get out of here – I want the hyperdrive to -"

She suddenly paused. She totally forgot something. Something that drew her attention away, causing her to throw a nervous glare beyond the Vaygr vessel.

The miners._  
They are still out there._  
She bit her teeth together...  
_Those god-damned miners..._

"- Correction – Have the hyperdrive system to be prepared for extensive use right after we extract those foolish miners! I want the hyperdrive to be charged for a focused _longjump_ back to Amaji space – It will be a rough one-way trip but we have no other choice... So - as soon as we have them, we're leaving this frakking place – _once and for all_!" she angrily shouted.

Aira pulled herself back slightly, feeling the angry vibes surrounding Hailynn. But not only her anger caused her to fear back... It was her words as well. 

"Ma'am! There is far too much interference due to our position being too close to the mining fields," one engineer explained loudly from the other side of the bridge, "We can compensate, but we require quite some time, Commander!"

"Who the ...Why the frell are we so _close_ to those god-damned fields?! Who forgot to maintain safety protocols?!" Hailynn whispered to herself but then smacked her forehead. There was actually only one person who was capable of controlling the ship besides her.

"Commander Delixa," Ensign Fenna announced, an operative situated at the helm-navigation station of the bridge, "I am unable to plot a course out of this system from this area. Observatory was able to figure a navigational possibility out of here, but Ops is unable to give us a decent feed of our destination – that is, if Pethera were still here. Sensory on the other hand should be able to do this instead, ma'am – If Aira were to mount her sensory station, she would be able to perform the hyperjump _for us_, using her 'own way' of guidance."

Hailynn slapped the side of her head again as she thought, "Pethera – pff – and damn it, who let the newbie take over the helm?" – But there was no time to worry about that now.

Hearing everybody's speech as she stared at the screen, Hailynn turned away and demanded, "Alright. Ensign Fenna," she called out, calling the ship's navigation operative at the helm who just spoke to her.

Ensign Fenna, a young Kiith-Amaji woman, was scared by her name being announced again and left her hands upon the cruiser's controls and asked, "Y-Yes, ma'am?"  
"Plot a direct course to the position of the miners and fly directly over the Vaygr Battleship. We MUST enter the fields before they manage to fire upon us!"

Fenna gulped. This was a rather tough expectation Hailynn was requesting, for this young woman was only a fourth class navigation operative-in-training who happened to be unlucky to take over the night-shift - and - who happened to experience this trouble during the last few minutes of her shift. In general, only a few others of the crew actually only understood the very basics.

Her hands shivered as she replied, "Y-Yes, ma'am! Engaging thrust profile!"

Turning over Aira, Hailynn suddenly demanded, "Aira. I need you to guide us."  
"What?" the girl timidly replied.  
"Our navigational scanners will be blinded as soon as the ship will enter those fields - that's for sure - and I don't think we will be able to plot a safe hyperjump destination – but you can, Aira. And with those fields suppressing our long range navigation, it will _all _be up to _you_ who can memorize the patch of stars within your mind, regardless of where we will end up once we're in there. You are the only one who will be able to save us through hyperjump! You are our eyes and ears!"

The girl was already overwhelmed just by hearing her task... Feeling Hailynn's hand upon her cheek, Aira looked up at her caretaker. In such time of anxiety, it was Hailynn's hand that shortly calmed Aira down, yet it was desperately pleasing her to help...

"I-I... I will vow to your d-desire, my naji..." Aira stuttered. The girl's eyes sunk down slightly. She seemed eager to fulfill Hailynn's plea, but its result would be in leaving this dangerous but ancient beautiful star system... and with it, Rahji, Kadesha's lost love.

"We trust you all, Aira – Now board your station, please!"

Accepting her plea, Aira immediately walked away, circling to the right side of the bridge, bypassing the Vaygr Kaydaana called "Ray" and began climbing up to the higher situated sensory station, which remained on stand-by, only awaiting a certain entity mind to reconnect to it symbiotically.

"Manaani. This Kadeshi _child_. She is the eyes of this vessel?" the Vaygr pilot asked.

"Y'ah, Ray. – And she's not a child, big guy. The young girl is our sensor operator and the only one who can connect to the ship's sensitive navigation and sensor systems thru' a mind-machine interface," Kaydaana explained, "An' mah-oh-mah, she is a strange but friendly being."  
"I understand," he replied and focused his view on Hailynn, who coordinated the ship.

"Engage all defensive and navigational support systems. PDS, all pulse field countermeasure systems, grav-generators, arrays - EVERYTHING!"

"Roger!"  
"Affirmative!"

More voices throughout the bridge confirmed.

"C-Course set, ma'am."  
"Engage. Move – Move - MOVE!"

Feeling the sudden rumble throughout the ship, the thrusters of the _Vjel-Amaj _at first glowed, ignited and then blasted along with supportive maneuvering thrusters engaging, causing the whole ship to turn.

Hearing an alerting sound, Officer Orelis suddenly shouted, "Attention, they've spotted us now – and we're being marked, too! Whatever took them so long, they're going to be hot on our trail from now on, Commander!"

Again, Hailynn bit her teeth together, annoyed by the thoughts of saving those damned miners rather than getting the out of here for the sake of the cruiser...

"They're going to blast us to back to Kharak if we don't get out of here!" another operative shouted.  
"Picking up a plethora of direct-guided signals upon our ship," observation operative Quan shouted, "Cannons, beamers - and missile turrets - are being focused upon our ship ma'am! Also expecting the use of heavy fusion torpedoes. I don't know if we will be able to defend ourselves, ma'am – Once those things are inbound, we could be history!"

Hailynn growled. "Enough! We are not dead _yet_! Engage high maneuverability profile... and have all decks to be pressure-locked-down ASAP! We will be needing all the maneuverability we can get, so charge those inertial stabilizing grav-generators to full effectiveness and have sickbay ready for possible casualties!"

"Affirmative, ma'am!"

Doing as she said, the gravity generators located throughout the ship's interior began to generate weak but independent fields of gravity, lowering the ship's physical mass to a minimum and raising its overall maneuverability as the result of its purpose. As this took place, every intersection of the ship automatically sealed with barrier gateways and doors in order to condemn all sections from decompression if such should occur, having only to be accessible through high-level authority of officers.

_- A distant voice is heard. Aira's eyes flashed open within her mind as she shortly ignored everything happening among the ship. Was it her imagination? The sound of a voice... a faint... howl... that suddenly went silent. –  
_  
The _Vjel-Amaj _was once again engaging a desperate escape... but this time being hunted by the dread Vaygr.

Suddenly, the voice of the Captain was both heard upon all speakers of the bridge and Hailynn's shoulder-mounted comm-unit, ""Captain to bridge. What is going on?"" he asked, sounding very calm – to the surprise of many upon the bridge.

Hailynn slapped the side of her forehead, regretfully being reminded of a fact she totally oversaw. Having the lock-down status active, she unfortunately forgot that this would block the path of the Captain as well. It would take very long for him to access each door one-by-one – and for the sake of the ship might having to suffer severe hits, a fall in cabin pressure throughout the ship due to hull breaches would cause severe casualties.

No chance in calling the order back now. Hitting the button on her shoulder unit, she immediately explained, ""Captain – A Vaygr Battlecruiser has emerged from hyperspace right next to us! We are engaging an escape route through the sphere-fields to extract the miners and then to escape through hyperspace! I am sorry for the lock-down, sir, but we are expecting heavy artillery... We are en route to extract the miners and perform a longjump before it is too late. I-I was not sure if that was the right thing to do, sir – but - ""

""Your reaction was appropriate, Commander – No need for apology. You are in command now, Delixa. I will coordinate the internal crews from here while you command the bridge. Thus, the bridge is all yours, Commander Delixa, and I am entrusting you the fate of the _Vjel-Amaj_.""

Hailynn paused at first, then responded with an insecure, ""Y-yes, sir...""

""The crew will fulfill your orders with honor, Commander. You all are the best of the best. Don't let me down. Pride.""

With the ending of the commline, Hailynn slowly made her way to the place where such superior commanding officer like her should be for now... Sitting down upon the seat, the captain's chair, Hailynn somewhat mentally felt the dreaded avalanche of responsibility, authority and the soon struggle of escaping death coming upon her. All means of communication and command were now in her hands...

Fearfully sighing, her delayed reply was "...Pride..." as her hands clutched the sides of the sophisticated seat... along with herself sinking slightly into the chair. Just for these few seconds, desperate concerns filled her mind.

The ship began to rumble and shake...  
Ignoring the big black stain on her uniform, Hailynn grabbed into the secret pocket of her uniform and pulled out a very small cartridge filled with pills. Pulling out two of different colors, she shortly stared at them and then closed her eyes before urging herself to swallow them. Opening her eyes again, she made no second thought of thinking if it was the right thing to do.

Obviously, her body was already being stressed... and soon, her body was about to suffer another two drugs, next to the heavy caffeine and adrenaline already pulsing through her body. And again, these two pills she took several times during the last shift, an inhibitor and a secondary one to keep her cool, were soon too affect her as well. But there was no time to worry about her health...

Feeling the motion of the ship engaging several course changes, the ship rolled slightly and flew ahead, attaining a direct course into one of the vast and dense region of the energy fields – with the anxious feeling of being chased!

"Kaydaana!" Hailynn suddenly demanded.  
Surprised to be called up, Kaydaana looked towards Hailynn and immediately replied, "Ah know what yah thinkin', Hailey! Leave it to the 'strikers' – WE'LL handle that sucker if we must and -"  
"Negative... Kaydy – You will be my X.O. for now." _There should already be a naval officer directly beneath Hailynn that would fill this role. _

"and - WHAT – How come?! Why do we always get denied?!"  
"This is not the time for arguments – I need you as my right hand! Right here! Right now!"

Kaydaana bit her teeth together and accepted, albeit their ranks being equal.

"Delixa. Manaani. Does this ship not have the capability to counterattack?" the Vaygr pilot interfered.  
"Jus' in case ya haven't noticed, RAY!" Kaydaana yelled at him, "This ain't no... Battlestar Majestica -whaddever – or however yer people would call those g'damned gunship vessels!" and rose her tightened fist.

"Orelis," Hailynn called out, ignoring Kaydaana's speech.  
"Yes, ma'am!"  
"Contact that damn Dr. Asad! Get him on the line, please!"  
"Will do!"

"Entering the outer layer of the fields!" Fenna shouted. Fenna's grip tightened her hands among her controls as pearls of sweat ran down the side of her face.

Diving into the outer fields of the regions, the _Vjel-Amaj _is soon followed by a much larger vessel, chasing its prey like a shark. Indeed, this behemoth was after the escaping cruiser. The fields were in fact regions surrounded by spheres of white streams and surreal colored gas formations. Bursting through another colorful layer of thick gas and leaving a phosphorescent wake along its path, the _Vjel-Amaj _altered it yaw rate several times by the hands – and feet - of Ensign Fenna.

Nodding with his head, Officer Orelis finally received a signal, "- I got him, Hailynn!"  
"Put that frakking fool through to us!" she demanded angrily.  
"Aye!"

With a short delay, Dr. Asad suddenly shouted before Hailynn could say a word:  
""HEY! What took you people so long! How dare you leave us out here without a word! Some kind of pervert joke you Amaji like to pull off, I guess - ""

""Shut UP! And listen –"" Hailynn struck with her voice, but was again abruptly disturbed by Asad's ignorant speech.  
""Oh not you again, Commander Delixa! Just-in-case you haven't notice, Missy, we are lost without the guidance signal that is no longer emitting from your position. I will just assume one of your _ignorant_ subordinates forgot to maintain and you want to apologize to us now - so - just let us finish gathering the last bits before -""  
""You frakking greedy miner! We're under attack and are being chased by a Vaygr Battleship!""  
""Ehhh... And you are luring them right to _OUR_ position?! Arr-Are you CRAZY, Missy!""

""Knock it OFF! We're coming to extract you NOW, idiot! So, get y-""

Interrupting her speech, one the bridge operatives shouted, "Barrage! Barrage!"  
"Ma'am, at this speed, we will be way too fast to be able to have those ships dock!" 

"Target all incoming missiles and engage suppressive fire by our defensive batteries!" Kaydaana demanded, taking over crucial commands for Hailynn, "Focus the fire upon our rear arc – fire-at-will!"  
"Commander!" Orelis shouted as well, "I don't think we will stand a chance at all as soon as they launch all weapons - and fighters! We are detecting the Trinity-Cannon being charged up! We might be able to outrun the battleship but with its long range weaponry – we will be as good as dead sooner or later – Don't think these fields will offer sufficient protection!"

As the _Vjel-Amaj _gained even more on velocity, the whole crew felt the ship trembling as every grav-field generator entered full efficiency along with the defensive arrays firing suppressive flak-fire to protect the ship from the rain of missiles engaging the ship. Rows of minor explosions occurred far behind the _Vjel-Amaj_, but with the constant stream of missiles being engaged upon the cruiser, the trails of explosions were coming closer.

""You still there, Missy?"" Dr. Asad's voice shouted, ""Now if you don't mind, we would like to end our harvest and – WHAT'S THAT THING ON THE SCREEN?! Other voices shouted at him, obviously the pilots of the primary resource collector WHAT, they really are LURING that BATTLESHIP straight at us?! Wha-""

"Damn it – Orelis, we're not getting anywhere with this damn guy! Lock my comm-signal to the pilots of those ship, please!" Hailynn demanded as she was being shaken by the ship's change of momentum caused by the artificial gravity.  
"Roger!"

Awaiting the signal to be locked, Hailynn ignored the speech of Dr. Asad complaining over the open commline. Using her arm, she wiped sweat from her forehead.

"Ma'am!" operative Quan announced, "We have another problem. With us being pursued, I don't think we will have any chance to perform a dock at all! The fields are affecting both our sensors and those of the enemy – but in the long run, these fields are not dense enough to hide within."  
"Isn't there anything out there that- " she asked, but then ended her question abruptly.

She paused as she stared upon the secondary screen on the side of the seat that revealed a simplistic display of the region that surrounded them. Pressing certain keys, she focused the display upon a certain large celestial body not far away from their current position, somewhat enveloped by a minor field of radiation.

"Commander – I have the pilots of the miners on the line and will patch them through to you, ma'am. One moment... Done. They are awaiting your word, ma'am."

Ignoring the noise, the tension of the ship being shaken and moved around, Hailynn lowered her view and rubbed the side of her forehead. Many already said that there was no escape, some already were praying to the gods – heck, were they even _here_ in this forsaken system? ... and indeed, the odds were looking bad.

The Vaygr vessel was far to powerful for the _Vjel-Amaj _to take on.

The _Vjel-Amaj, _as it was, was simply not designed to be a warship...

Deep breaths did not help her at all as she still remained uneasy – yet, her hand slowly reached for her comm-unit upon her shoulder and called out with firm voice:  
""To all units... We will not be able to perform docking while being pursued – and although I have my grudge, I am not willing to hyperjump out of this system without you,"" she paused, before her voice slowly became intense, ""Hence, all of you out there are to follow _MY_ orders from now on and no longer the command of Dr. Asad! No more fooling around! Disobey my orders by going on a sightseeing mining tour - and I _will_ make sure the _Vjel-Amaj _will be out of here while the Vaygr will take care of _YOUR_ 'hinds!"

A few crewmembers threw surprised faces.  
She continued her speech, ""Now... if we want to survive – We must find a place to hide in order to perform docking procedures... and I know the best place! So, attention fleet and bridge personnel, engage rally point to the following nav-coordinates being transmitted: Indigo-Bravo 78.91x – 273.89y, relative bearing -67° at three o'clock high... Rally-point: The equatorial region of the comet's tail! Over!""

Everybody now threw even more astonished faces, not to mention, those of the pilots on Orelis' screens at the side of the bridge.  
"T-the comet, ma'am?!" Ensign Fenna's voice shivered - unsure of her demand, "For the love of Kharak, th-that is a big comet... and -AHHH!"

A violent energetic explosion occurred dangerously close at the left dorsal side of the _Vjel-Amaj_. The aggressive outburst of a detonated object expanded to the side of the ship, just barely touching it with its debris and blastwave – followed by a row of dumb-fire rocket volleys being suppressed by the defensive arrays of the chased cruiser.

"Th-that was close!" Kaydaana shouted, "What tha frell was THAT?!"  
Needless to check the screen, Orelis turned around "That was one of the heavy fusion torpedoes that missed us, ma'am! Heh...Commander Delixa, the pilots have accepted your command to approach the comet - but they want to let you know that you must be out of your mind and you can count me in, Hailey.... They say will maintain radio silence but will ping a signal every now and then upon a hopefully secure frequency in order to be found by us – but with intense protest of Dr. Asad. I can still hear him shouting. I'm not sure if the pilots will be able to keep cool with this guy on their backs," he added, yanking his headset from his ear.

"We'll argue later about that idiot, Orelis! For now, Ensign Fenna, keep the _Vjel-Amaj _steady and head for that comet! Evasive maneuvers!"

"But Cap- I mean, Commander – What are we to do at that comet?!" the inexperienced navigator cried as she tried to maintain the erratic flight.  
Explaining her intentions as the ship again wove and shook side to side, Hailynn shook her head and said, "Not just 'at' the comet... No. Our only chance of survival is by entering the atmospheric tail of the comet. Those miners should be the first to enter that dense field that should offer much protection and a hideout for all of us until we are able to extract them one-by-one once we find them again! So try to keep a lock on their signal as well as possible – and with Aira's help, her sensory should be able to penetrate the atmosphere for the lookout of our units. Obs, scan-report of the comet!"

Taking over the speech, operative Quan continued, "Yes, ma'am. Distance to comet's sector, 33.7 km. Diametric size of the comet's nucleus: 797km! Its velocity is relatively low. The outer ionic layer and the interior fields of the tail is in fact a wide spread region or trail of massive frozen water clumps and clumps in various sizes along with unknown dust, larger masses, solid materials and mineral and is expanded beyond the reach of our scanning capabilities. For sure, this trail is caused by the melting and breaking surface due to the star wind."  
"Frozen w-water?" Ensign Fenna asked loudly as she aimed for long dark blue trail of comet.

"Expect a heavy icestorm – blizzard – You name it, Ensign," Quan remarked, "The sun of this system has already been affecting it ever since it entered this system, causing the comet's exterior layer to become unstable."

His female colleague of the same Kiith, operative Kenta, took over, "The comet itself is naturally emitting a minor field of X-rays and other types of harmless radiations among itself and will for sure offer sensorial protection from those guided missiles, ma'am. I don't see that much of a trouble for our systems. The chucks and debris of frozen water will offer enough for a hideout – but you must understand that this will be a _very dangerous_ attempt to maneuver a ship of such size! We will need to dodge as much as possible in order to avoid hull damages. Our ship should be able to penetrate more denser areas than the Vaygr ship, but I have my worries in just how eager they are to go."

With another patch of explosions smacking among the proximity of the _Vjel-Amaj_, Kaydaana demanded, "Damage report!"  
"No severe damage to report up to now, Colonel!" Orelis replied, "Only minor damage to the exterior armor – We have already received other minor hits from those dumb-fire rockets, but they won't kill us yet!"

The _Vjel-Amaj _was lucky that it was very tiresome and difficult to target this small cruiser that was escaping the gigantic vessel. Yet, the _Vjel-Amaj _was taking more minor hits by the rockets – while not as accurate, powerful or deadly as the heavy arsenal of the behemoth, they approached in large patches at blinding speed, darting upon the cruiser like a hail of death. During their escape, Orelis stated that the three resource collectors, "Bees," and the resource-cargo ship "Hive" have entered the X-ray field and thus will soon be below that outer field of the cometary atmosphere of the frozen comet. With both communication and sensor linking disrupted, Hailynn soon began to worry if they would find each other as soon as expected – Yet there still were possibilities of finding them effectively. Following the plan of Hailynn, she was to soon see if these Vaygr were going to be cunning and brave enough to follow her – in the eyes of the others – insane intention.

Indeed, as the _Vjel-Amaj _pierced through several layers of gas fields, the crew soon discovered what Quan meant with its trail being beyond scanning range. Discovering the blue tail of the comet, it was a long and wide blue line that exceed beyond the eye's reach – along with a pitch black part of the tail not even reflecting the least of light... and as they approached it, it was soon to become alike a dark blue horizon. The darkness was the most fearful worry of all... The comet, being a rotating behemoth and throwing a constant stream of thick prismatic sparkles and chunks behind itself, threw a shadow among its curved tail.

Looking to her left side, Hailynn saw Kaydaana, who kept annoying the others with her commands. Despite the lives being endangered, that crazed Manaani woman did seem to enjoy the command – somewhat sadistically. Nonetheless, it was a good thing that she was here... for once...

Aira has been supporting Fenna over the time, willing to help as much as she could. As the barrage took place, a constant worry filled Hailynn's mind... They were barely escaping – and with the pure death pushing them into the comet, she feared if the comet was the actual _death trap_.

Having no choice, they were soon to enter the deeps.

With several screens beginning to fuzz and show garbling images, Kaydaana suddenly asked, "W... Hey - What's goin' on? Are our sensors damaged?"  
"No ma'am," Orelis said, soon to be followed by Quan's words.  
"Negative. We have already entered the cometary field just moments ago," Quan added, "and that is not all. I guess the interferences are worse than i presumed... and I am detecting... turbulences ahead... I cannot really explain but expect a heavy storm."  
"Hoo boy!" Orelis sighed.  
"Oh no," Ensign Fenna said with a very concerned voice.

"Report. What is it!" Hailynn demanded.  
Looking upon the main screen, Hailynn and everybody else discovered the live feed view of their flight being filled with frozen water particles – dense snow and ice – The field of view was slowly being consumed by the area of effect of the comet's tail.

Several dumb-fire rockets flew beyond their path, missing the _Vjel-Amaj _and randomly collided with invisible objects in the pure darkness.

"Ma'am, we are soon to be entering the layer where light cannot penetrate," Quan noted, "Our conventional surveillance systems will very soon be unable to guide us through."  
"We'll be blinded any moment!" another operative shouted.  
"No – we are not blind yet!" Hailynn shouted, "Aira will still be able to see where we are flying to. Have navigation to be live-fed with her sensory station and all others – and set survey on low proximity modus by using other special ways of survey!"

Timelessly floating amidst the _Vjel-Amaj_, Aira's holographic being was surrounded by the intense ice storm and its darkness, enveloping her with ice and snow rushing past her... She knew this was only happening within her mind... but the endless deep of the blizzard that surrounded her was merely crushing her with its ever-bitter freezing embrace. Her small body curled and cowered together.

Nothing could really explain what she was experiencing... Her skin rose in goose-bumps with the imagined cold.

She was shivering... and the cold air merely crushed her lungs. Fear filled her soul. This... loneliness... It was like what she still suffered... but she felt the mere isolation stronger than before.

Aira's thoughts spoke in her Kadeshi language.

Undeniable...

This was Kadesha's tear...

The tale of her last tear was true...

All her pain...

Her agony... misery... sorrow... was shed by this tear for Rahji... before she ended her existence.

A tear for her lost love. Never was she to learn if Rahji would ever receive it... during life or beyond death. Having found Kadesha's tear... maybe there was hope... for Rahji and her divine goddess.

_I feel your sorrow... How... oh how can I sanctify your sorrow... Kadesha_?

A tear slowly slid down along Aira's cheek.

_Oh Kadesha... Sorrowing for so long..._

Your endless sorrow tormented your lost soul for eons.  
  
Aira closed her eyes, praying for the lost goddess of her culture... embracing her necklace, the Eye of Kadesh. Fulfilling her soul with urge and despair, Aira began to feel a plea... as if her journey was not over. 

No...  
Her determination...

Her quest in returning to Kadesha's Grave with a relic of Rahji – at least something of his remains – would perhaps unite the two in the vain lost ether of death... and end their everlasting sorrow.

_Kadesha... I have found your tear. My return to your grave shall cleanse your lost soul. I endeavor my soul for your salvation. _

But how was Aira to find a relic of Rahji? Once her naji and the souls of the others were to be retrieved, the _Vjel-Amaj _would require Aira to leave Rahji... thus tearing her soul away from this sacred world and for sure never to return again. With the frenzied Kadeshi pilgrims crusading through Rahji's remains... cleansing the unclean... Aira was sure that this was not what Kadesha wished...

_Oh, why were these people not respecting her legacy_?

Far beyond, Aira once again heard that howl... that crying howl... _Who is it? Is it you... Kadesha_?

But as her thoughts were lost in the enigma, a bright flash from behind suddenly surprised her. Heat radiated upon her... merely attacking her skin with searing heat as the flash came closer.

Another row of explosions occurred – but this time, several of them impacted upon the hull. With Orelis shouting and others screaming, the ship – though hit - did not suffer severe hits due to the small warheads – but with their current flight, the _Vjel-Amaj _was an easy target.  
Watch out!" Aira's voice cried – but she noticed the incoming danger too late, due to her absent mind.

And just as they thought that was all, they suddenly began to see a lot more around the ship. Why was it getting so bright, as if a giant flare was emitting from behind?

But what was it?  
Flashing by, a massive bolt of energy rushed passed the _Vjel-Amaj_, at first melting and vaporizing everything within its way – no matter if it were massive rocks of ice or a water particles - before instantly being frozen by the cold vacuum of space again, revealing a long frozen tubular path as it struck ahead.

Many were shocked by this dreadful event.

Aira tried to calm down... Her distracted mind nearly caused the ship to suffer a severe hit... or even its destruction.

Descending and dashing ahead, the bolt of energy bashed its way ahead at blinding speed... until its illuminating light was covered by the darkness.... soon to bash into something a lot more massive.

Shocked by the bolt of death, many of the bridge crewmembers were stunned by what nearly happened.

"Ha-!" the wild-hearted Manaani woman snarled, "Missed us by a mile!"  
"_Mile_?! That was frakking close – not even a hundred meters!" Orelis corrected, staggered by her somewhat insane remark. He shook his head. That hit could have destroyed the ship... and just for the fact that the Vaygr 'missed,' Kaydaana seemed be way too excited as she devilishly smiled upon their chaser's failure.

"Thank you, Sajuuk," operative Quan said.  
"- Everybody, stay calm!" Hailynn demanded again, "Ensign – what is wrong?! Can't you -"

She paused...  
Raising herself, Hailynn saw upon the main screen several images flowing, rapidly changing in color, intensity, flashing in all sorts of unusual ways... revealing the exterior field ahead and among the _Vjel-Amaj_. With random explosion occurring around, the crew began to see in one manor how Aira were to see things, despite it not being as irritating to her as it was to them right now.

-_Again, that that voice... Again that howling cry... Why are you crying? Is it you... Rahji... Kadesha? Please... I plea you... Answer my soul..._

Silence...  
But then... She heard the voice... It was far away... but it was calling... it was calling out for her...

Countless pieces of ice, shards, rocks and frozen boulders were seen among the fields, along with a massive 'wind' of snow and ice particles being blow among them. With Quan explaining, the high velocity and the sun's wind were perhaps causing this blizzard – with them entering this threatening ice storm as the ship approached the deeper core and equatorial region of the tail.

What caused Hailynn to worry even more were the increasing numbers of collisions of minor ice blocks slamming among the hull and as time flew by... followed by even more crunching and 'tacking' sounds being heard elsewhere. Spotting a rather large floating 'ice asteroid' far ahead, Hailynn demanded Fenna to perform a course change, but nothing happened. 

"Ensign Fenna!" she shouted and made her way ahead to Ensign Fenna's station, "What is wro- ?!"

Fenna's hands remained where they were. She seemed stunned by all she has experienced up to now.

"Dodge!" Hailynn shouted. Fenna tried to say her word, but not a single word left her lips. Turning her face with her hand, Hailynn discovered that the young woman was subtly suffering a shock – but not like Hailynn's recent shock. It was a nervous breakdown. She was panicking – probably because she never had been in such life-endangering situation such thing before. Staggered by the way of the innumerable amount of giant rocks of ice, the next area was dangerously filled with objects bouncing and repelling among each other – not even reacting to the blind rocket attacks - soon silenced by the cold darkness.

"Holy crap! Fire control!" Kaydaana cried with her Manaani accent, "Aim fer the incoming objects an' blast 'em! Fire, FIRE!"  
""To all decks – BRACE FOR IMPACT,"" Hailynn shouted into her radio and anxiously grabbed Fenna's stunned right hand. Tightening her grip upon her hands and squeezing the small levers and sophisticated buttons among that control, Hailynn fretfully pulled the control to the side, along with ship immediately reacting to that action. With the powerful turn of the ship, momentum still was felt throughout the ship – and soon, blocks of ice shattered among the hull several times along with ice shards of various sizes darting and hailing upon the ship.

"D-Damn it – Orelis – Kaydy, help me get her off the chair before she KILLs us!" Hailynn shouted urgently.  
Fighting to get ahead to the helm of bridge, both Kaydaana and Orelis tried to make their way but the ship altered its course several times, making it difficult to move ahead - This time swinging the rear vertically and in an unorthodox manner due to Hailynn being only able to hold one of the controls of the ship at the time. Like a one-armed man on a row boat, the _Vjel-Amaj _swayed with each movement she tried to compensate with. Her right hand was upon Fenna's, whose own hands nervously squeezed the controls along with Hailynn still trying to steady the ship by fighting with the axial control. The ship was indeed flying too fast, merely dashing into the deep filled with hazardous objects.

"Ensign Fenna, let go of the controls – You're going to kill us if -ngn!" Hailynn shouted but fought trying not to be torn away by the sudden momentum as the ship did another harsh change of course. The inertial grav-field of the bridge and its exterior were phasing a bit out of sync. Fenna tried to respond but shook her head and mindless lifted her feet... Unfortunately, her feet were secured by the pair of various pedals that she forgot, making the ship once again cause the ship to spin and yaw over the y-axis - out of control.

Noticing the problem, Hailynn figured out that Fenna had been maneuvering the ship without the right supporting systems, false protocol guidances, somewhat reversed and akward controls and manually altering the grav-fields to perform high velocity course changes... For Hailynn, it would be a smart move - but within the hands of a trainee?

Despite being in space, with the gravity fields, inertial stabilizers and other effects of astro-physical momentum, each change was felt throughout the ship at the same time it was bashing fields of levitating ice rocks. Even the whipping stream of 'ice-wind' and ice crystals were causing an unusual turbulence and harsh resistance regardless of being in space. Hailynn fought trying to keep control... Fenna's tight grasp had nearly all thrusting and yaw-triggers pressed, making the whole situation worse than it already was.

Again, one rocket exploded upon the hull of the ship while another batch of others detonated elsewhere! Finally joining the two, Kaydaana appeared upon the left side of Fenna's seat along with Orelis who had trouble finding a hold.

Looking to the other side, Hailynn's attention was caught by the dreaded collision alert... that one sound that toned in a threateningly manner.

"Kaydy – _finally_ – grab her other hand and make sure she doesn't -" Hailynn said, but then heard a familiar *spack* sound upon the cheek of Fenna...

Eh...

Letting go of the left control, Fenna looked over at Kaydaana while she laid her left hand upon her smacked cheek. Her right hand slipped off the other control joint as well.

Being partially able to take over, Hailynn's body immediately leaned way over Fenna's lap by throwing herself ahead, reaching for the lower control. Intentionally wanting to take over the control, there was not enough time to get Fenna away from the damn chair. Despite her method, Kaydaana's slap was a cruel but surprisingly mind-curing technique... Crazy Manaani woman indeed...

_Damn rookie navigator! Not much time left!_

Something was out there and either they or the large object were closing in too fast on each other.

"Got to pull out of here – _NOW_!" Hailynn shouted and slammed both controls to the left, skillfully keeping her middle and index finger upon the thrust control triggers of the sophisticated control stick. With the sudden course change Hailynn caused by her left hand, the heavy jolting force of physical momentum threw Kaydaana's self over Fenna's lap as well and with her chest over Hailynn's head.

With Orelis merely hugging the seat in order not to be knocked away, he was already annoyed by all this _trouble_ that was going on... This was the most intense and crazy assignment he has ever taken on.

Another strong vibration rumbled the ship as another large block of ice shattered upon the hull.

Quan shouted, "Looks like we might be getting away from that Vaygr Battlecruiser – they still are firing upon us but their hit ratio is lousy!"  
"Yeah – but wait till they blast another shot with that Trinity Cannon!" somebody replied loudly.

Hailynn's head was down-forced by Kaydaana's body and pressed between the legs of Fenna. Unable to see where they were flying, Hailynn lost her touch to the left side of the navigation system. Trying to get up, her arm accidentally knocked the right hand control, causing the ship to be shaken again. She couldn't see a thing. While she did try to deactivate the mess that "newbie pilot" Fenna had calibrated, Kaydaana's rather wide bust was blocking the view.

Fighting to raise her head, Hailynn moaned aggressively, "Get off my head, Kaydy!"  
Orelis shook his head as he saw the bunch rather tangled, but as he raised his head, he spotted another object closing in according to Aira's guidance survey, "Incoming object, two o'clock!"

"Gnngh – Kaydy, hit the left control - hurry!"

Looking to her left, Kaydaana spotted far to many controls, two sophisticated control sticks and other grip controls... "- Ehhh- which one of 'em?!"  
"Any one of them - Hurry! And not too hard -"  
"Wha-?"  
"Not too hard!" Hailynn panted,"just... _smoothly_!"

Fighting to get up by using her right arm to lift her body... and unfortunately pushing Hailynn's head between Fenna's legs again, Kaydaana nervously grabbed the one of the left controls and turned its X-Axis to the side. Doing as Hailynn said, the ship slowly yawed to the left, despite the sensitivity protocol still not lowered. With that being done, Hailynn used her imagination, trying to analyze the incoming threat in the 'storm' that surrounded them. Closing her eyes, she magnificently turned, moved and twisted her hand, wrist joint and arm... causing the ship to somewhat _elegantly_ evade the threat.

Making a desperate movement with her hands, Hailynn trusted her imagination and instinctively pressed certain keys in a special sequence and finally managed to run an automatic sequence causing all settings to be reverted to her natural settings and functions... Slowly but surely, Hailynn was getting control of the ship again.

Looking down upon her lap, Fenna blushed with hand left hand on her cheek, having both Commander Hailynn Delixa between her legs and Lieutenant Colonel Kaydaana Manaan making an annoyed grumble. Kaydaana finally turned herself around but had trouble getting her balance up. Using her left hand, she snatched the collar of Fenna's uniform to lift herself up with her somewhat busty torso – since Fenna was still strapped tightly by seatbelt harnesses. Fenna did not say a word, as the face of the angry looking Manaani woman approached her face with that furious intimidating sting of her dark green eyes again...

*Snap-Clip-Clip-Click-Snap*  
Orelis detached the seat harness with a series of grating clicks, freeing the inexperienced pilot.

All Kaydaana said was, "Move - _now_!"  
Being pulled away, both Kaydaana and Orelis dragged the staggered trainee pilot to the side of the bridge, bringing her to one of the seats and strapped her with its seat-harness.

"- and stay _THERE_!", the Manaani woman demanded with an annoyed voice.  
"You two – strap yourselves – Vaygr, you too as well! This is going to be a _rough _flight!" Hailynn shouted suddenly, "Orelis, maintain your station – and Kaydy, the captain's chair is all yours! I need you to take over all operations!"

Gazing ahead, both discovered that Hailynn has taken over the navigational control of the _Vjel-Amaj_. No time for arguments and concerns as trouble was coming from all sides. With her hands upon the complicated controls of the helm, Hailynn was getting more and more anxious than ever as sweat began to appear upon her forehead. All this stress was already too much for her, but she just could not stop now...

"Everybody – Brace yourselves!"  
Giving herself an overview the threatening situation, Hailynn turned her head to all directions, swiftly analyzing all arcs, seeing from high, low and behind, all incoming dangers through the help of Aira's sensory feed.  
Her shoulders sunk...  
_So many missiles..._  
_So many asteroids..._  
_and all were coming in for them..._

***

*Pant* *Pant* *Pant* *swallows* *gasp*

An hour later, breathing heavily, the over-stressed female Hiigaran navigator at the helm was out of endurance. Slowly raising her head, her face shimmered the reflections of the illuminating buttons, displays and controls, only to anxiously observe the arcs of the screens that surrounded her. Her surroundings were darkened. The bridge invoked the darkness as the rest of the ship. Despite the ship powered down, her hands still tightened the ship's primary navigational control...

_Did we lose them_?

She was outright tired and felt sick. Her hair scrambled and messed up from the recent events. Her body already exceeded its limits, crying for rest and serenity with nearly every muscle feeling strained. She lowered her head, fighting with each rapid breath. Soaking wet with sweat, her uniform and undergarments were totally uncomfortable.

Not a single voice spoke...

Only listening to the endless sounds of random chucks of ice knocking upon the ship's hull.

= Somewhere deep within the comet's tail =

Hailynn's mind was still disordered by the events that happened the last hour. Slipping her trembling hands away from the controls, she rubbed her face several times, trying to cope with her uneasiness. Albeit only navigating for an hour, this flight was probably the wildest in her entire life.  
It was an hour of pure hell. Flashbacks filled her mind:

With many people shouting and screaming, the ship was shaken by a nearby shockwave emitting from one of the devastating fusion torpedoes launched by their Vaygr pursuer. Due to the intensity of the energetic explosion, the wave caused several malfunctions throughout the ship. Along with the failure of the exterior grav-field generators, the ship lost vital navigational and propulsion aids that led to Hailynn's major difficulty in navigating the ship.

With the innumerable thousands blocks of ice floating incalculable throughout the surrounding the treacherous storm, Hailynn unfortunately bashed the ship through, being knocked from one asteroid to another due to their uncontrollable flight. Plunging deeper into the comets tail, there was no chance in really telling how far they were – other than the increase of Hailynn's difficulty in trying to avoid crashing and severely breaching the hull.

Despite her observatory screens being supported by Aira's sensory station, the violent and bizarre 'storm' of ice crystals was dense and hid all minor objects already dashing straight at them, whipping and smacking the ship like a leaf soaring through wind.  
At this point, her mind only threw images through memory... The ship flying sideways... barrel-rolling... spinning and yawing at a dangerously high rate! With the frequent loss of several gravitational control systems, every single body in the ship suffered the effects of physics as momentum tried to crush them...  
To both, the whole crew and her, this tremendous flight was a pure nightmare... Excluding Kaydaana, who seemed to be the only one having pure joy of being a 'commander' on the captain's chair while experiencing yet another _wild_ and _fierce_ flight... and of course to the annoyance of Officer Orelis who had to follow her loud-mouth.

So many worries filled Hailynn's mind – wondering if they were going to survive – wondering if she was truly the right person to save the _Vjel-Amaj _and the lives onboard from being destroyed. So many doubts...  
With another heavy fusion torpedo exploding in the vicinity, the blastwave temporarily knocked out many vital systems and with it, Hailynn's capability of maintaining overall control. With her memory firing images through her mind, the shock of possibly dying stunned her as the ship spun at a very dangerous rate and then – at first crash-landing upon a wide surface and sliding along it...  
For the next five to eight minutes, voices were shouting, many of them _shouting at her_ to stop the ship. Fearing the worst, she frightfully fought with the last available system – desperately trying to stabilize the ship from rolling and sliding upon the vast frozen surface... Praying to the gods, her strenuous struggle was cumbersome and terrifying for every single soul onboard... 

***

**- Favor –**

Hailynn threw her back against her seat, breathing deeply.  
With the ship being slightly angular, the _Vjel-Amaj _rested upon the surface within the storm, covered by snow and ice.  
Surprisingly, relief began to fill the bridge as several voices sighed, not believing that they have survived this horrific flight. Voices of others were heard, but among the group, a few were nervously panicking - however one merely panicking louder than the others suddenly. Turning her head to the right, Hailynn discovered it was Ensign Fenna who fought to remove her seat harness.

Fiddling with the locks of her belts, she angrily shouted "D-Damn it – Nobody said this god-damned job was going to be this… this _INSANE_!" she shook around even more, "G-Get this blasted damn thing _OFF_ me! Damn it! I'm just a frakking freighter pilot!" Fenna threw one swearing {oath/curse} after another with the babbling as she panicked, her wild manner actually hindering her from opening the rather simple mechanism of her seat harness.

Hailynn turned her head back as she listened to her and others trying to handle their stress. Feeling guilty, the Hiigaran woman sunk into her seat. Thinking about all of this, it was somewhat her fault for not having the ship prepared for this 'adventure'. Fenna was _right_. Despite that nobody was able to foresee the future, Hailynn was responsible, not only for this wild flight but for all decisions causing the _Vjel-Amaj _even to be assigned for this operation – and of course, the somewhat insane decision of entering a comet's tail.

This whole assignment and its unknown embedded madness actually were caused by her decision. Though being only second-in-command, she remembered the event of the Captain calling her to his quarters. She remembered her somewhat joyful face, finally hearing word from the Captain of the _Vjel-Amaj _taking part on something… _important_.

Finally, a real assignment that indeed had importance – Unusual though, the Captain insisted her to decide what to do. Of course, he trusted Hailynn as his right hand and loyal Commander, but there must have been more to it - more than him just asking for a second opinion...  
As if he was not sure of this himself...  
Or as if he wanted to leave the decision for Hailynn...

But speaking of the Captain, for sure she was going to be in serious trouble – not to mention the somewhat 'lambasting' she caused upon the ship and the _verbal harassing_ and _actions_ against a high leader of the S'jet...

Starting with the costs - that is, if they should ever survive getting out of this mess, she was definitely going to be blamed, court-martialed, and maybe even get banished if not executed for taking on such a high authority of S'jet.

Just as Hailynn's mind nearly wandered off, she suddenly heard the typically loud annoying voice of Kaydaana. Hailynn turned her head again to the back.

"Woooohooooo!" Kaydaana cheered annoyingly, "Wow – Hailey... Nevah knew yah could flah _this crazy_ with such a big ship – Mah oh mah, maybe I should have changed mah career back then after all – ha!"

The Manaani woman straightened her back by merely throwing herself up upon the captain's chair that seemed more like a throne. Shortly slapping a hand upon her chest, it was needless to say at all that she more than enjoyed this frightful flight.

_Damn adrenaline junky..._ Hailynn thought.

Smoothly feeling the surface of thi simpressive seat with the both of her hands, "Ah knew we could count on yah, Hailey- and actually. Ah'm gettin' used to this com' chair... but back t' business – Officer Orelis?!" Kaydaana suddenly demanded.  
"Yes ma'am?" he recalled, obviously annoyed as he detached himself from one of the nearby secured seats.  
"What's our status – Are we still intact or will we be stuck here forevah?"  
"Full damage report," Orelis ordered by way of an answer.  
"Sorry, sir – Engineering and internal damage indicator grid is offline - but will come back online shortly. All I can say is that we do not have any deck breaches or decompressions reported. Hull integrity was for sure heavily affected from the collisions, but it should still hold together. Primary power grid should power up as well soon."

Observatory operative Quan voice interrupted, "Sorry to interrupt, but I am picking up several signals among the vicinity through our passive detection systems. Not sure but it is originating from far away – few are coming closer. Expecting hostile strikecraft... and I am also detecting one signal originating from further away from a different angle..."  
"I-I can sense it as well," Aira's shaky voice explained, "One is... Waving... Searching..."

Obviously, Aira was able to feel the presence through passive awareness as well.

"That _waving_ one must be the Vaygr," the Vaygr pilot said.  
"Wha-", Kaydaana curiously asked, "Noooo waaaay, Ray! We dived waaaay deep enough – There are so many ice rocks out there, there is no way sucha _big_ ship like _theirs_ could get through!"  
"You do not understand, Manaani."  
"Eh?"  
"We Vaygr _hunt_. If our prey escapes – We will _seek_. We will percieve. We are very... _patient_." 

"Damn!", Hailynn shouted, slamming her fist against the side of her seat. Gaining attention of the bridge crew, all eyes turned ahead to the helm of the bridge.  
"Zann! Under no circumstance are you to activate the whole power grid!"  
"But – ma'am?" Technical Engineer Zann dubiously asked.  
She shouted further, "That Vaygr vessel is still out there... and the Vaygr is right. This is a hunt with us as the prey hiding from the predator!" Hailynn sunk her head only calming herself down a little, "We might be in safety for now, but they're scanning the whole area from afar – and I'm not risking anything else from here on... Status: Blue, full subtlety and low profile from now on!"  
"Don't be silly, Hailey!" Kaydaana refused, "We can still get outta here... err, we can - can't we?" looking over to Engineer Zann.  
"The hyperdrive is still capable of getting us out with a longjump performed by Operative Aira, ma'am. But it is a one-way decision. I must again advise that such a long range jump all the way back to Amaji space would need a day, but would strain the hyperspace module's conduits and field over its maximum. We should still make it but -"  
"Enough fer us, ha!"

A weak but familiar wave somehow caught Aira's attention. Despite her station being inactive, she still received a faint presence as her hands still rested upon the orbs.  
"I can feel something _else_ seeking for us..." her soft voice said.  
"Yeah ... duh, honey – It's just that Vaygr ship!"  
"No – no... This one... It is... familiar. One of our ships... a tracer signal trying to find us... leaving a sort of... path..."  
"Aira!" Hailynn frantically shouted, "Do you know where it is exactly coming from?!"  
"I do, my naji..."  
"Wha' - Hey, whoa – Yah not plannin' on stayin' here, Hailey, are you?! Hey, I'm the _captain_ here, eh!"

"Kaydy, knock it off –" Hailynn shouted back at her, "We're not heading anywhere –yet."

Thinking of the situation concerning helmsmen, the crew of the _Vjel-Amaj _was not provided with sufficient navigators at all... Only two were available – Herself as the most experienced and the navigator-in-training known as Ensign Fenna Amaj. Despite the long flight through space to this dreaded starsystem, Hailynn insisted not to provide the crew with unnecessary personnel, such as several cryo-shifts. Though of course not knowing of how this whole mission would take course, Hailynn's thoughts of guilt slowly became stronger. Being deep within this frozen hell of the comet's tail, having a vaygr battleship hunting them and only her aside to Fenna being the ones able to fly the ship – They were in _serious _trouble.

She gravely underestimated this whole operation...

Erratically looking around, Hailynn's thoughts shortly wandered, trying to come to a conclusion. She rubbed her eyes several times again. She needed to fight against this strange weary and nauseating feeling somehow... but why was she feeling this way? The pills were not affecting as they should...

The anxiety of the crew was somewhat calming down – but considering herself, her body was still wild, she actually still had adrenaline pumping herself.

No time to worry about this...

Disassembling her seat harnessers, Hailynn strapped open her vest, trying to receive at least some fresh air upon her sweaty self.  
"Everybody listen up!" she shouted loudly and began explaining a plan she slowly built up, "As I said, maintain 'status:blue' and end pressure lock-down. Kaydaana – I need you and your squad out there."

"'bout time, Hailey!" the Manaani Colonel snarled victoriously.  
"Don't fool around, this is serious!" Hailynn argued, "If I'm getting this right about what Quan said, then we and our 'men' out there are in serious danger. The Vaygr Battlecruiser must have dispatched strikecraft units out for those dreaded miners and us! I want your squad for search and rescue! Get those fools back so we can get out of here – Aira will support you through the comm for guidance!"  
Kaydaana winked. "Gotcha all in check, Hailey – Ray, yah comin' with me!" she said over to the Vaygr pilot who stood aside.

"Manaani... I respect your rank, but I must reconsider Delixa as my lord of command," the Vaygr replied with his usually deep voice.  
"'_uh muss reconsiduh Delixa as muh lord of commund',_" Kaydaana copycatted resembling and spoofing his deep voice, "- and like ah said, Ray. It's 'Kaydy', 'Kah-y-dee'!"

He ignored her words.  
"Vaygr... " Hailynn's voice said, only calming down slightly.  
"By your command?" he militaristically greeted. The surroundings of the bridge went silent again, nearly all but Hailynn staring upon the only visible eyes upon the face of the Vaygr.  
"We will need any help we can get... therefore I -"  
"Commander Delixa. You and others may not or do not wish to understand my culture – however, I will bow to all your commands. I accept your command and will support your units for this task. I will obliterate those who will oppose us."  
"No, it's not about _that_, Vaygr. I am asking you..." she paused and laid her back upon her seat again, "... for a _favor_. Not as your superior, commander – or 'lord of... command' .... as you would say..."

Needing not to think long, some did see that the Vaygr pilot only briefly staggered by Hailynn politeness asking him for a favor, before he replied, "I will fulfill your... _favor_, Delixa."  
"You are a skillful pilot, 'Ray'. I want the two of you to take care of each other – that is the least I can order..."  
"'nough talkin' – Let's move! I need to get my men to 'work' – Pronto!"

With Kaydaana and the Vaygr swiftly leaving the bridge, many suddenly sighed – as if they were _happy_ that a certain entity of annoyance left the bridge. Needless to say - It was **not** the Vaygr they were happy to see gone.

Walking over to Hailynn, Orelis sighed, "I know I'm only a Deck Officer, Hailynn – but for the love of gods, please don't ever put her again on command of the bridge again... unless you wanted to punish us and -" but as he approached Hailynn's seat, he discovered that she was not alright at all.

"Comman- , Hailey – You alright? What am I saying, you look terrible!"  
"Th-Thanks," she ironically replied.  
"No kiddin', better get a medic over here."  
"Don't be silly, Orelis – I've never felt be- ... Ore-" she coughed, and heaved. "You have the bridge!" feeling a sudden urge, Hailynn suddenly got up, swaying slightly to the side as she rushed her way from the bridge, hunched with her hands upon her mouth.

Surprised by her all too sudden reaction, Orelis looked around, assuming that Hailynn would be needing help. Spotting only one person who seemed to be the only one having the harnesses of the seat finally off, he stared upon that person, hinting that person to get moving.

That person widened her eyes...  
_No way_! – Her eyes said...

_Get GOING_! – His head denoted aside to his teeth biting before he made contact to the nearest medic.

Several moments later.  
Resting and hidden upon a giant asteroid covered by ice, several exterior areas of the _Vjel-Amaj _slowly opened themselves. Along with the procedure, certain turrets appeared and began to fire several strange flares upon the area and other floating and stationary celestial rocks in this somewhat 'safe' region. All flares at first burned bright and then extinguished by the cold grip of vacuum…

Meanwhile at the bridge, one of the operatives reported, "Sir, we have launched several flares and sprites upon the area and have 'marked' our position."  
Taking a look upon the main screen, Orelis discovered the passive observatory systems detecting the weak nuclear radiation emitting from each flare throughout the area, hardly effected by the 'blizzard' out there.

"Are you sure this will work, Quan?" he asked.  
"Yes, sir. I can assure that these radioactive flares will allow us and our units to find our position as well as 'brightened' the visibility through selected functions of the surveillance systems we possess."

As they spoke, they ignored the constant noise of rocks knocking against the ship's hull.  
"So, we are using radioactivity as lighting," Orelis questioned as he rose one of his eyebrows.

"Affirmative," Kenta, the female colleague who sat next to him, continued, "Despite this region of the comet's tail being overshadowed and us being in total darkness, we are not completely blinded, sir. According to sensory and observatory data, both the ship's systems as well as our strikecrafts are able to passively detect fields of radiation, emitting from both the flares and sprites - and larger hazards. In other words, this region and practically all celestial objects throughout this cometary atmosphere are actually visible – not by natural light, but by weak fields of radiation."  
"Exactly," Quan added, taking over the explanation, "The Vaygr are for sure using active scanning methods to find us, but they won't be able to detect us with us that early being hidden upon this large celestial body. We don't need to worry about them detecting the flares either for now. "  
"I see. So in other words, we and other units are capable of seeing something out there after all."  
"Yes sir."

With the combination of the certain surveillance systems, the main screen revealed many hidden objects among the vicinity, having asteroids shaded dark blue and another brighter color showing the unusual flow of ice winds and objects whipping through space. Visibility was not as limited as they at first thought.

"Thank you for your efforts," Orelis thanked before turning himself away, "How far are our units? Are they ready for launch?"  
"Almost, sir. We have seven units ready for launch and the Vaygr fighter being readied at cargo bay II," an operator announced from the other side of the bridge, "Bay docks are slightly frozen on the outer side, but the gateway should still be able to open automatically."  
"Good. Have all units to be informed of how they can navigate throughout the region," Orelis commanded.  
"Affirmative."

With the short glimpse looking up upon Aira, Orelis did not say another word. The Kadeshi girl, who noticed his glance, nodded, showing that she understood that her objective was to guide their units to the lost miners…  
Nonetheless, the adolescent girl lowered her view, wondering and worrying if her naji was okay. She wanted to follow her, but Orelis simply needed her now.

"Attention! Captain on deck!" Orelis' voice suddenly announced…

At the same time at one of the restrooms not far away from the bridge, a sickened female officer kept her head over one of the sinks, just as Ensign Fenna entered the area as she guided a male medic. It was Hailynn, feeling nauseated for unknown reasons. Her stomach was tormenting her with pain aside to her unease. With all the stress that happened recently, she still did not have the slightest clue – since everybody actually knew Hailynn was a tough person at handling gravitational stress.

Her stained uniform jacket was on the floor, her own vest opened, revealing her black t-shirt beneath. Hearing voices, Hailynn's gloomy view turned over to the door of the restroom section…

This was not good… People were coming… and there was this sudden _urge_ to…

"She's over here, Sir – *a voice speaks* No, nobody is here other than us, so you may enter – *again the voice speaks* Yes, Commander Delixa seems to be sick and – *astonishment*",Fenna explained, but her speech ended with the disgusting observation as both spotted Hailynn vomiting a black fluid along with a splash.

_Oh my gods, gross..._ Fenna thought - just before she wondered how she could have gotten into this mess. Standing where she stood, Fenna was gently pushed aside as the medic swiftly made his way over to the sickened officer.

"I'm fine… Doc, I'm…" Hailynn ironically said, just before she spat a bit more…

A very disgusting view indeed, but the medic had already seen worse in his lifetime.

Wiping her mouth and washing it several times, Hailynn sunk aside to floor and sat down, still feeling cramps within her stomach.  
"Ngh."  
Before the medic said a word, taking a short look at what she vomited, he discovered strangely busted capsules, a familiar fluid within this disgusting smelling liquid…Familiar pills, for sure.

"Commander…" he said, leaning down and began taking out certain sophisticated bio-med tools, "Please don't tell me you -"  
"Give me a break, will you?" Hailynn coughed. Her throat was burning.

Slowly approaching from behind, as the doctor began to examine Hailynn's body with his tools, shortly listening to her vital signs and measuring her blood values with a special device. Fenna's voice stuttered, "N-not that I want to bug, but is she… pregnant?"

"Yeah - with a chestburster… Of course, I'm not!" the commander snarled, "Don't tell me you missed the damn rumor of me still being a virgin…"  
"…Alright-Alright"  
"- which unfortunately is true. I'm still single – and _on duty_, if you haven't _noticed_."

Giving her a treatment injection to treat the contractions in her stomach, Hailynn remained calm as she received the injection.

"Commander. You took two of those pills again, right?"

Puzzled, but urging herself to answer, Hailynn responded, "Yes."  
"- Despite my concerns and medical demand of not taking these things any further, right?"  
"Yes…" she said, revealing her eyes towards his, but just before she could say an excuse, he continued, "- And you took it albeit the serious advise I mentioned?"

"W-What is this all about?" Fenna curiously asked.  
"Ensign, this is something you should know not about, considering my patient – I must suggest you to return to your station and - " he said but Hailynn refused.

"Nevermind. It is okay," Hailynn insisted.  
"I'll keep it to myself. Not a single word of this will leave this room."

The doctor hesitated, but he continued, "Fine. Well, this is the point," the doctor explained, as he checked the results of his small tool showing her bio-lifesigns again, "I have – _no idea_ – why you are doing this to yourself, but judging by the hell this ship went through, I'd say you have undergone severe stress that your body couldn't handle at all. And according to your blood values, you are heavily drugged. Your body is overwhelmed – thank goodness not overdosed - with a bad mixture of known stimulants. If I haven't given you this stimulant, you might have ended up with a serious shock – or worse. Nonetheless, Commander. I must declare your status and will soon relieve you from active duty. You are _addicted_ to those pills."

"Guilty. But this is not the right time for pulling me back."

"Commander. Hailynn. What did I tell you in my advice considering inhibitor pills during the last health check-up?"  
"Not to be used during pregnancy or during high times of the -'female cycle'."  
"Right."  
"Not to ingest too many within a short period of time."  
He nodded, "Aaaand…"

"Yeah. And -", Hailynn was about to ironically answer in the same smart-aleck manor – but just as she remembered the last advice, her mind suddenly was shocked by the realization as her face showed astonishment.

He nodded a few times, knowing exactly what she thought.

"Huh, what he means, Hailynn?" Fenna said, curious than ever.  
The Hiigaran woman sunk her head, "Never to take inhibitor pills with stimulants, alcohol… and caffeine," and slapped her forehead gently. She could not believe that she had forgotten this… The stress, the urge and persuasion of the situation merely caused her to suppress her memory.

"Hailynn. Listen. You were very lucky that you received this treatment. It is slowly subduing the negative effects in your blood. Actually, if you had suffered further without treatment, you might have undergone a serious shock or worse - the danger of cardiac failure! Just recently before you came here, your blood pressure surely was sky-rocketing and your heart palpitating like hell!" he explained with a seriousness not to be ignored, "What actually happened was that the inhibitor pills took effect upon your body, stopping your natural digestive system. I know that in tough times you officers need these pills to stay even longer on duty, but you have no idea how damaging this is! You people forget that you are kushans! Those pills have the dreaded side effects of causing mental problems - With these intensive value of caffeine and drug components of the other pill keeping you awake, your stomach seized its production of natural substances, leading to your nausea due to the coffee being affected by enzymes. So actually, you suffered a sort of 'food poisoning' at the same time!"

Observing her bio-lifesigns calming down again, the medic laid his medical gear away and helped Hailynn up again. Though feeling weary, the pain in her stomach seemed to have vanished including her shortness of breath... despite her burning throat though. Washing away the remains in the sink along with her mouth, she wiped her face with cold water several times.

The stress still was present. 

"As I said, Ensign Fenna," the medic said as he turned around, "I still advise you to keep this to yourself."  
"Hey – don't see a superior officer throwing up every day," she snarled – but then looked at Hailynn, "But I will keep my mouth shut. By the grave of Kharak."

Fenna's words were promising enough.  
Disturbed by a sudden voice speaking from their radio units, the Captain called out, ""Commander Delixa. Please respond or report to the bridge immediately.""

Moving his hand over to his shoulder unit, the doctor insisted to respond in place of Hailynn, ""Captain. This is Dr. Jonan. I must regret that Commander Hailynn is not in the condition of reporting to duty, sir. She -""

Hearing her motions, both Fenna and the doctor looked over to Hailynn, who put on her stained uniform. Keeping the jacket open, she fixed her hair shortly and locked her radio unit to the signal as well, ""Negative. I am alright, Captain.""  
""Captain, I must protest,"" Dr. Jonan added, trying to protest against her words, ""She is not in the condition to -""  
""I brought us into this mess,"" Hailynn said with a firm voice, ""And I will bring us out of here...""

"No way, Hailynn," now Fenna was defending the doctor's concerns too, "Look at yourself..."

Both were actually right. She just received the treatment, but she was still suffering in a way. Needless to say, her uniform was full of wrinkles, stained and slightly misplaced. Still leaving her uniform-jacket upon, Hailynn once again fixed her hair, straightened her collar strap, adjusted both the skirt of her uniform and did several swift movements, adjusting the undergarments and the placement of her bra beneath.  
"- Oh sure. Like as if you are capable of flying this ship now," Fenna snarled.

Looking up upon the Ensign, Hailynn made a short devilish smirk, "As if _you _were capable of flying us out of this comet?"

_Damn_, Fenna thought.

"As if _you_ could stop me. You don't even know the _slightest bit_ of me, Fenna. Don't mess with somebody who had to be around a Manaani for a long time... "

Suddenly, Hailynn pulled something out of her jacket, opened a small cartridge and threw two small objects into her mouth and presented them between her teeth, just before she crushed and swallowed them.

Shocked by her act, Fenna and the doctor could not believe what they just saw as Hailynn began trying to walk out in a cool manner – It rather the opposite of elegant walking - relatively swaying her way to the exit of the restroom.

""Commander Hailynn here. Reporting to the bridge - A-S-A-P. ""

This was the proof that Hailynn was addicted to the pills. However, they did not know that she did not have much of a choice. Duty was calling her and this was not the right time to show weakness and failure. She could care about her innermost health for now. Though her head still ached, she needed to get moving, despite her emotions bewildering.

There was no chance in stopping this stubborn woman.

Fenna remained where she stood, startled as Hailynn disappeared from the restroom. With a plea from the doctor, Fenna was asked to keep a very sharp eye on Hailynn, for she was out of control. The treatment would suppress the effect, but she was a ticking bomb - and for sure, Hailynn would probably take even more from those pills without knowing it...

The doctor was forced to leave Fenna due to his presence still being needed elsewhere, yet he needed to find a way to get his order as a doctor through to stop Hailynn...


	9. Chapter 9 The Duchess of Hazards

Special thanks to Betareader "SOTS" from Fanfiction net, id=1474306

_Who is calling me?_

Surrounded by the surreal world within her mind, Aira sensed the presence summoning the distant call, the same voice that frequently howled amidst the cold darkness surrounding the Kadeshi girl. Turning around several times, she spotted nothing but the threatening holographic objects of ice within her mind. Several times had this unusual voice caught her attention but never replied. Although her heart feared the unusual, the voice somewhat piqued her curiosity...

Still virtually engulfed by the cold surroundings of the ship, Aira remained where she was. Thoughts filled her mind. This voice was originating far beyond her reaches... yet it still was somehow persistently howling exactly for her attention. But who could it be? Was it a ship among the vicinity?

With her mind being in symbiosis with the ship's sensorial potential, her mind was able to pierce through the engulfing freeze that tried to blind her eyes. Sensing the distant hulk, far away from their position, Aira cowered away, fearing as if the Vaygr Battlecruiser were able to see her. Looking away, her mind once again sensed several objects through the dense fields of frozen water that surrounded her.

No. It was the lost miners very far beyond, hiding from the Vaygr in a very dense patch field of ice rocks. She lowered her head. Although she felt glad to have found these people, they were not the cause of this voice. The voice was too unnatural for a simple space-faring being. Neither was it some type of automated buoy hidden somewhere, nor even the slightest conventional communication signal tapping her sensitive skin.

No - even further. This was something beyond, far beyond her expectations. The voice was too isolated, outlying and hollow...not an echo of reflected comm-signals at all. This voice found her and was calling her from afar through both time and space. Was it an entity alike her? Or even as of what the enigmatic Bentusi would call... "unbound"?

_Who...are...you?_ The voice suddenly asked... and for a very brief moment, a being appeared before Aira – too fast for her mind to even recognize the appearance...

Frightened by the sudden appearance, Aira shockingly raised her hands from the entity orbs, instantly aborting the mental connectivity between her and the system and the symbiosis with it. It took a brief moment until she recognized that she still was at the bridge, in safety and surrounded by the noise of busy operatives in action. As one of the operatives noticed her connection being interrupted, he immediately looked up to Aira's station, discovering her being disconnected.

"Aira, ma'am, please maintain focus upon the probe while we align its core array to your entity," the operative explained to her, "And please avoid any abrupt disconnections later on as well. With us altering the A.I.'s guidance core to your hand, it will not be able to switch fast enough to its own guidance, which might cause it to uncontrollably crash against a hazard. It should be able to dodge hazards during connectivity, but we better avoid any possible trouble."

"Y-Yes, I apologize."

"We're almost ready. The probe will also be able to maintain a focused commline between you, our strike units and possibly establish a line to the miners once you have found them."

Curling her fingers into her trembling palms, she tried to gather the courage to lay them upon the orbs again... Whatever frightened her, she could not refuse her duty. The people around her needed her help.

**Chapter 9 – The Duchess of Hazards**

Almost camouflaged by its sinister surroundings, the battered cruiser was partially dug up by the endless and violent stream of snow that uncontrollably blew or drifted upon it during the last half an hour, still being hunted as a prey, hiding for its life. Despite the erratic currents of countless ice rock, a consuming stream of water particles from the comet's atmospheric tail filled the surroundings of the ship, flowing away from the comet's nucleus.

With the hangar gateways slowly opening at the same time with one of the upper cargo bay's reinforced airlock, a group of smaller crafts were revealed among the wild wind of snow and ice whipping among them. Hail, snowflakes and frozen water particles of all sizes bounced and gently shattered upon them.

Static hissed over the comm-line. ""Awww-right, recap!"" Kaydaana's accented voice fuzzed over a designated communication frequency, ""This is a search'n'rescue operation! Our job's to retrieve the miners who are lost out here and hiding somewhere beyond our communication capabilities. We'll be in for some trouble, too! We got Vaygr strike units lurkin' their way through – and they do seem to be on ah lookout for those miners – so we won't have much time either! Keep yah eyes peeled - And for the sake of kushanity, maintain a wide'n'loose formation! Scratch mah hull and you're as good as dead!""

""Strike units?"" another female pilot asked, obviously surprised and ignoring Kaydaana's last remark.

""Correct. While we do have major concerns of sending our units out, we do not have much of a choice if we are to retrieve the mining extraction group. The Vaygr Battlecruiser is obviously too large to penetrate this dense region without sustaining heavy damage - so instead, they have dispatched strike units, as it seems,"" Orelis voice announced as well, ""It is already far too dangerous for the _Vjel-Amaj _to make its way through this mess so we are counting on all of you. Operative Aira will support you on the search with one of our sophisticated survey drones. The drone is a Vario Scoutling and thus one of our advanced A.I. probes... So Aira, please be careful, those things are damn expensive. Our Vaygr ally is marked by our friend-or-foe coding as 'Ray' – but nonetheless, watch your aim – He is on our side. We will be counting on all of you, men and women.""

""Remember – Under no circumstance are you to use standard or advanced guidance systems!"" Operative Kenta Amaj added, ""Navigate only with the suggested inferior passive surveillance systems as previously advised. Additionally, set visual aid visors to intervallic pulse to allow a steady view of the surroundings. Red and yellow view setting should allow a decent sensitivity for any radiation. Due to the hazardous region, do not – I repeat – do not fly beyond the velocity limit of 100 kilometers per hour. The risk of collision is too high!""

""This is observatory operative Quan Amaj. The ice asteroid we are situated on is slowly rotating away from the comet's nucleus. Hazard environment levels among the bays are minimal so no need to worry now for any large incoming objects. The ship itself is not totally safe from incoming hazards actually, but we will be fine for now. However, remember: Time is our worst enemy. With this asteroid rotating, it will not take long until this region of the surface is exposed to the comet's nucleus again thus raising hazard levels – or worse: being discovered by the Vaygr Battlecruiser.""

""Also,"" Quan noted, ""Aira's probe, the Scoutling, will offer additional sensorial aid. So, take good care of her, too. She will be your eyes and ears. As for you, Aira, maintain your focus on the probe. You know how it works. And stay away from danger. Alright?""

""I understand,"" a soft voice replied.

""Copy.""

""Roger,"" several other adult voices confirmed.

"Hundred klicks per hour, 's she crazy?! We'll be sitting ducks!" the Manaani pilot said to herself.

Enveloped by a plethora of screens, harnessers, targeting aids with several cables and cords connected to her sealed flight suit, Kaydaana tightened her grip on the delicate controls as the fusion core hummed, coming slowly to life. Minor images reflected upon her eyes.

Unlike the common "Acolyte" interceptor of the Kiith Somtaaw, this version belonged to a series of requested custom fighters, manufactured by the Somtaaw Naval Defense and traded with the Kiith Amaj by resources and other expensive license deals as a special space superiority fighter for their expert pilots. Only a few exist among the rather small Amaji Navy, but it is said that those who can control these wild yet sophisticated fighters possess a furious soul.

Kaydaana Manaan. Being a wild gunner and wild at heart, absolutely nothing could describe her better. Her being the only high-ranking Manaani strikecraft pilot of the _Vjel-Amaj _never was a simple task. It took a long time for her to feel at home with the Kiith Amaj. Though her squad mates now saw her as a leader, she had been avoided at first. Even though those of the Kiith Manaan were known as brave and furious pilots, Kaydaana's reputation was nonetheless tainted and only rumors seemed to be the only thing that could come close to her past. Alike many among the Kiith Amaj - and despite her actual kiithid heritage being a mystery actually - the Kiith Amaj willingly welcomed her – without into her past, and this was good, for she had a lot to hide.

It was the welcoming embrace for which she was thankful for, for which the Amaji symbol stood for: The major star was the Kiith Amaj, circled by smaller stars representing other Kiiths and embraced by angelic wings, comparable to the common Hiigaran one of the Angel Moon. This flight was going to be another way for her to thank the Amaji, to pay the favor back for their support.

Looking to her sides, the Manaani colonel spotted three fighters on each side. Four of them were standard interceptors developed by the Hiigaran Navy, the remaining two being special issue interceptors armed with independent turret pods, allowing it to be flexible versus multiple targets. Not that she would complain of this being all the Kiith Amaj had to offer, the _Vjel-Amaj _simply was not a military ship despite its military agenda onboard. Her wingmen knew their hardware, but those fighters were nothing compared to her Acolyte.

Not letting herself being distracted by the small noises of randomly packed blocks of ice knocking against the hull, she felt that beating again. It was time. By pushing the side of her helmet, she simultaneously caused the sophisticated visor to cover the upper half of her face. The unusual helmet was in fact alike a hood, sealed by both the exterior visor and an oxygen mask. Her fingers tickled and twitched as they tightened themselves on the controls one more time.

Sensing the systems responding, the surroundings were displayed with the selected few passive systems to support navigation including light amplification, along with hazard collision detection, guidance and targeting indicators. The adjacency of the _Vjel-Amaj_ was 'illuminated' by sets of radiant flares fired upon the frozen grounds. Thanks to Hiigaran surveillance technologies, these special flares emitted levels of radiation that was only detectable for the Amaji vessel and its units. Kaydaana's visor revealed the surrounding surfaces with great luminosity.

""This is Obs,'"" Quan suddenly called out, ""Tech has completed the alignment to sensory. Aira, you may now control the probe on your own.""

Responding to his words, the Kadeshi girl felt the probe's A.I. core. Surprised but not scared, she looked upon the object before her mind forged itself with it. The core sung a strange song of electronic sounds, awaiting her next intention.

""Ray. Yah there?!""

""I hear you, Manaani,"" the bass voice replied.

""Rrrr- It's - mmmrhhh bah – Nevermind – but get this straight, Ray: Onboard, Hailey may be your 'commander' – but out here, yer all mine! Got that?!""

""Very well."" His comm crackled as it cut off.

""An' I'm sure we're up for ah fight! Yah may be a cunnin' loner, but with mah boys'n'girls around, yah won't be alone this time.""

""Leave it to us, Colonel,"" the female voice from before said.

""Excuse my interruption, Colonel,"" Orelis said among their commline, ""Commander Delixa wishes to speak with you. She's about to be here at the bridge but she insists a direct commlink to you right now.""

""Better not be an abortion! Get her through – now!""

With a short change of ambience, Hailynn's voice is heard as soon as she was patched through, ""We do not have much time, men and women – and Manaani.""

Kaydaana bit her teeth together for that subtle joke.

Hailynn's voice fell slightly... somewhat denoting worry and concern.

""Vaygr,"" Hailynn called out.

""Responding, Delixa.""

""I wish I would not have to demand this, but the pursuers must be stopped. I demand that you to oppose all of your 'brethren' who will be threatening the lives of the miners.""

""They are no longer my 'brethren'. My true brethren remain safely protected within your ship.""

""I understand. As for the rest of you – and Kaydy...""

""What you want?!""

""Just come back in one piece. Ok?""

There was a moment of silence, for this was the first time Hailynn actually denoted concerns.

""Aw, how sweeeeet..."" Kaydaana remarked with an ironic touch, ""- C'mooon, Hailey, don't get nostalgic now -""

""No Kaydy, really! I wan-""

""Let's move! All units, dispatch! Kaydaana, out!""

Practically cutting Hailynn off from the commline, Kaydaana's Acolyte fighter detached and rose itself from the bay, hovering away and soon to be followed by six other interceptors, a long Vaygr fighter and a sophisticated probe unfolding maneuvering arms and smaller wings.

At first wanting to demand Orelis to reconnect, Hailynn's hand slid away from the radio unit that rested upon her shoulder. She only stood steps away from the entrance to the bridge, but she hesitated. She feared the presence of her captain.

Following Aira's thoughts, the probe responded to every command her mind evoked along with its A.I. supporting the guidance that perfectly aligned itself to the side of Kaydaana's fighter. With each thought, the A.I. responded with several melodic pulse sounds aside to the harmonic interval sounds of its concealed surveillance array. Despite her efforts in concentrating, her eyes still moved back and forth, anxiously trying to see beyond the blinding fields of particles. Her mind was able to penetrate the enveloping field, but that was not what she feared. It was her soul that shivered, not knowing where the being that called for her was. But for the first time, she felt something else within her. A warm feeling within her stomach as she looked upon those fighters and its people that surrounded her.

**- We've got company -**

= Several kilometers away from 'Vjel-Amaj'=

Several kilometers away from the _Vjel-Amaj,_ streams of small ice particles tore their way through space as the probe dashed ahead, followed by an Acolyte and several interceptor craft. Dodging and strafing past every hazardous object, all pilots and the probe were at full awareness of their surroundings. Despite the Kadeshi girl not physically endangering her own life, the burdens of responsibility upon the lives others were in her hands, ironically. Yet, it was the strange feeling of being at two places at the same time that affected her. It was tearing her mentally apart. None have noticed her unease as the distance became greater. She was able to abort anytime but she fought against her fear and this urge.

_Oh no..._

Inside the conventional reach of their sensors, something stung her mind. A disturbing feeling as if something dangerous was out there. Focusing more on the distant probe, she began to sense the source of this alerting reaction. Far ahead, she rediscovered the group of miners – but this was not what caused the problem.

At the same moment within the _Vjel-Amaj, _Hailynn was still standing in front of the bridge. She did not know how long she stood there, but she was hesitant and anxious. Though feeling lucky that she was alone, the stressed commander with the stained uniform wiped sweat from her forehead again and again. Suddenly, she was surprised by the sound of her radio unit sounding an internal call. At first making an annoyed face, she shook her head and calmed down a bit before pressing the key for response.

"Delixa."

""Commander? Orelis here.""

Obviously, Hailynn already expected somebody to be calling for her, since she did sound as if she were to come immediately to the bridge but still had not appeared.

""Ma'am, the Captain is still awaiting your report to the bridge.""

"Yes, I know... I know, but -"

Taking a few steps away from the station where he just stood, Orelis made sure that he was far away enough from others in order to whisper just as he interrupted Hailynn's speech.

""Hailey, I think you better get in here now,"" his voice whispered over the comm, ""The Captain already knows you're standing in front of the bridge section...""

Her eyes widened.

How did he know tha–?

She slapped her forehead.

Way-to-go.

""Got no friggin' idea what happened to you, it's none of my business, but the next time you insist to 'hide', make sure you have your comm-signal on passive or offline, ma'am. Look, you shouldn't be having the Captain waiting... y'know.""

Hailynn shook her head for making a stupid mistake in that case. But anyways, this was selfish, she thought. Just for that moment, she was like a little girl wanting to hide from responsibility and punishment and just now, she was 'caught' again. But now there was no way in going back either as Hailynn spotted Ensign Fenna coming along the corridor, heading to the bridge as well. Before Hailynn entered, she felt a cold shiver down her spine along with goose-bumps spreading among her skin...

Gaining entry to the bridge, Hailynn entered the bridge as Aira's unstable voice suddenly spoke, "I-I sense... danger. Small ships... fighters!"

""'bout time, eh! Show time!""

Looking upwards as Hailynn swayed her way into the bridge and trying to hide her imbalance as best as possible, she listened to the slightly garbled transmissions of the dispatched pilots.

"Finally, you have appeared," the Captain said with his usual firm tone of voice as he sat upon his seat, "What took you so long, Commander?" The Captain still looked ahead, having Hailynn behind his shoulder.

With Orelis coming closer, she looked at him and said, "I was... busy, sir."

"Much has happened. However, Officer Orelis has already given me a short sit-rep."

"..."

"There are some things we need to talk about, but for now, it is best to focus on the current situation."

"Yes, sir."

"Feeling the soft motion of wind over her neck, the Hiigaran woman noticed a person who stopped aside of her. Taking a short glimpse, she discovered Fenna. Hailynn, for sure, was not really happy to see her. Again, Hailynn began to feel slightly cold gush.

"Is it me... or is it getting cold in here?"

"I am not sure," one of the engineers replied, "We are not sure, but it seems our environment control systems are damaged. Due to our current situation, we are not able to take care of it for now. Nothing serious right now."

"Guess we will have to live with it..."

With Aira's probe at the lead, Kaydaana flipped two large caps of her controls but did not press any of the buttons.

""Aw-right, honey,"" the Manaani colonel snarled to Aira's probe, ""Tell us exactly what yah can see.""

""I can see... three groups of Vaygr, each c-consisting of ten units. All units are spread among the vicinity of those we seek...""

At the same time with Aira's speech, she caused all of the surrounding units to be updated with her discovery, causing the sensor displays of all to reveal location points of the hostile units far ahead.

""Alpha 3 here. This region is huge - How were they able to get so close to them, over?"" one of the male voices asked.

""Dunno, Ace –""

""Aira,"" Hailynn's slightly interfered voice suddenly announced among the comm-line, ""Are you able to link our comm-signal to the miners?""

""I am trying, but they are either too far away or are not able to respond. But I do sense a signature radiating from their position. I feel that this signature is not condemned by the comet's surroundings...""

"That damn fool, Asad!" Hailynn announced loudly, "I can't believe it!"

"What do you mean, Commander?" Orelis curiously asked.

"- He is not sticking to our escape plan. Frell, he is not even sticking to any plan at all! Guess those pilots are being forced by him - They are MINING and extracting some useless crap right now!" her voice thundered.

""Colonel Manaan!"" one of the pilots said, ""I can see what the sensor operative is saying. They are flaring the region with highly charged flares, ma'am – exactly the wrong thing to do when maintaining stealth... Frell, are they even trying to keep it low?! With the miners flaring the whole place up, they are only moments away from being detected!""

""Damn it!""

Staring at the three groups of Vaygr far apart from each other and seeking their way through the dense fields of frozen rocks and shards of ice, the Kadeshi girl and the others anxiously watched the groups suddenly moving away from group of mining vessels. The oppressors were pulling away, perhaps wanting to seek within a different vector. Everybody could not believe that the Vaygr had not found them.

But this was only a short moment of relief...

Spotting one of the long fighters turning itself to a certain direction and seeing another powerful flare, it sprayed a large field of energy that practically any sensitive sensor could detect as it was being shot towards the direction of the Vaygr group situated closest to the group of miners.

"No... No no no!" the girl cried in despair, "What are they... doing?!" and shook her head. Feeling something mentally tapping the sensitive skin of Aira, she felt something originating from the miner's main ship, the _Hive._

"Everybody, I am detecting a signal... an open communication broadcast coming from the largest ship of the miners..."

".gods," Hailynn cursed and bit her teeth together, "Don't tell me they -"

Walking closer to the main screen that displayed the slightly distorted sensor readings of the situation, Hailynn's mouth dropped open as they all heard the voice of Dr. Asad's announcement with many interferences and garbled sounds:

""Hive to _Vjel _units... Haaah-ive to _Vjel _uuuu-nits! This is Dr. Asad! Hey! Where are you fools flying?!""

""Manaani,"" Ray's deep voice said over the comm-line, ""Our objective is endangered.""

""Hive to _Vjel _units. We are over here, you fools! Fire another one with more power, will ya!""

Aira pinched her eyes together shortly as she saw another small star illuminating. For the normal eye, the flare would only resemble a hardly noticeable dot from their current position, but for sensors of all kinds in range, it was like a small supernova flashing its presence.

""_Vjel _units. We are practically ready for returning! We are glad your Captain was so concerned of our well-being and to send so many units on the look out for us. We are surprised you did not find us even though you have a thirty-some units on the lookout! But enough, just get over here now and bring us back to the '_Amaj_! We are able to refine and get rid of junk, but we can do this faster onboard the cruiser!""

Hailynn shook her head many times as this dreaded miner spoke further, ""We have discovered several clusters to mine here. We have refined most of our previously gained claim and are soon to fill the storages to their maximum. However, we have extracted many interesting new components. This comet is full of riches!""

"The Vaygr... They... They are turning around!" Aira cried again as she saw the nearest group to the miners at first shutting down their main thrusters, altering their heading to the miners' position, then powering their fusion thrusters to full thrust.

"Confirmed!" Quan shouted as well, "The other two Vaygr groups have engaged a direct intercept route to Dr. Asad's position!"

""Damn. They're compromised!"" Alpha four shouted.

""Kaydaana!"" Hailynn yelled, ""Cut stealth approach and get to them, ASAP!""

Not even needing to hear that twice, Kaydaana already pressed both upper buttons of her flight controls, causing the Acolyte to fold out both drives and reveal both of its dual mass-driver cannons. Additional gauges, crosshairs and symbols appeared upon her visor, showing that the Acolyte had engaged combat mode. Along with its drives expanding, several other vernier systems became available, giving her maximum control over this sophisticated fighter.

""Aira – Stay back!"" Kaydaana demanded of Aira's probe, ""-and keep us updated with yer scans! This 's a job for us grown-ups, girl! Everybody else: Intercept speed, now! All units, duo wing! Ray, yah comin' with me. All others: One fighter, one gunship each! Over!""

""Roger! Here we go again!"" one snarled.

""Confirmed, Alpha three – You take the lead!""

""Ray - Clear mah six!""

""By your command, Manaani.""

""Frell with speed limit!"" Kaydaana shouted as last and shoved the thrust control to its maximum. With the adrenaline pumping through her body and the power of the Gs pressing her into the harnessed seat, the wild Manaani already launched ahead of the group. Lowering her head slightly and stretching her arms at the same time, she was furiously challenging fate like a devil as the Acolyte blasted ahead.

"Wha- What is she -?!" the surprised pilot of the interceptor gunship asked as he stared at the Acolyte darting ahead, "Is she insane?!"

The Vaygr fighter and another fighter dashed ahead, following the trail of the Manaani pilot.

"Ace, you better stick on their tail!" Ace's female gunner co-pilot suggested, "She's a Manaani alright!"

"Friggin' Manaani...!"

Meanwhile, onboard the _Hive_, Dr. Asad is standing at the cockpit canopy, observing the screens as he discovered something coming closer to their position. With another operative noticing the activity, the man rubbed his chin and squeezed his eyebrows together as a sign of noticing something confusing as well. Sounds of the refinery unit onboard were heard in the background, but they did not let themselves be distracted by it.

"Umm..."

"Mr. Cimm, what are these signals - no no, those over here?" Dr. Asad asked.

"I'm – I'm not really sure, Dr. Asad. Hmm... This is strange. Our sensors indicate another group of eight and a single unit further away, coming from 7 o'clock low. And the other three groups coming from 3 and 4 o'clock high."

"What do you mean with another group?" Asad snapped, "Maybe those are just another seeking group from the '_Amaj_ – or hey, even those stupid Vaygr. Nothing to worry about when we have at least thirty Hiigaran fighters coming to support us."

"Uh-oh," the man replied.

"Uh-oh? No, Mr. Cimm, I don't care about that uh-oh. Just have the fighters escort us back the _Vjel-Amaj _so we can unload and continue mining. We will certainly be able to -"

Ignoring Asad's speech, Operative Cimm turned his head over to the pilots, "Hey, did you guys hear any transmission call coming from those three groups?"

"Negative. To be honest, we avoided broadcasting any comm-signals until Dr. Asad insisted to launch 'sparks' and broadcast – but now that you mention it, there is a signal trying to contact us..."

"Ignore it!" Dr. Asad said, "Either those Vaygr want to show off before being blasted to bits... or... or that it's Hailynn Delixa Missy demanding us to get back!"

Slamming both hands on the side of the sensor terminal, Operative Cimm's head moved closer to the sensor screen, not believing his eyes.

"F-Frakking frell... Something is not right here..."

"Explain," one of the _Hive_pilots asked.

"The sensors... They are indicating a FoF signal being emitted from the smaller group coming in from 7 o'clock..." operative Cimm explained slowly.

"FoF signal?" Asad asked.

"The FoF signals are confirmed as 'friendly'..." Cimm said and looked at the others gradually.

"Whoa-Whoa, hold on here. If those signals are coded friendly, then... what are the other ones, Cimm – and stop it if this is some joke. That last time you pulled that joke scared the crap out of me..."

"Th-The other frakking signals are elusive! No FoF recall! Nothing at all but their directly focused scans upon us."

"Ha-ha, yeah ri-" the pilot said, but as he took a look on his screen, his eyes stared upon it.

With a sudden surprise, several explosions and other rays of projectiles rained upon one of the 'Bee' mining collectors, busting the rear of its cargo segment. Overwhelmed by the sudden event, Dr. Asad and other ran to the side of the cockpit, only to see the explosions being suffocated by the vacuum of space. With its hull ruptured by heavy shots, several parts of debris and indefinable objects were blown and sprayed into space and thus exposed to the comet's area of effect... soon with one of the objects to knock somewhere against the hull of _Hive. _Needless to say, those were the bodies of unlucky crewmen of the attacked collector, unfortunately caught by surprise. Voices suddenly shouted wildly, both over the comm-line and within the cockpit between the operatives.

Confused by what was happening, everybody onboard hasted to do something, other than Dr. Asad, whose eyes focused on something different. Observing the ruptured hull of the collector that uncontrollably began to rotate backwards, a precious mass was sprayed into space as the vacuum tore away another shock-decompressed cargo segment. Dr. Asad slammed his fist against the thick window as he saw its valuable cargo blown away into their vicinity.

***

""Th-this is Aira,"" the Kadeshi girl called out to the fighters, ""The Vaygr have destroyed one of the smaller ships!""

Aira was stunned by the view as she saw void of death consuming the souls. She felt it... and with it, her mind was at the dreaded edge of being tormented by her past again. Nonetheless, she was lucky that the A.I. still managed to dodge incoming hazards by its own after all during her distraction.

""Th-That was a long-range barrage!"" one pilot explained, ""Actually ineffective in this dense frakk but for sure easy to score a frakking hit on stationary targets like those idiots ahead!""

""Those Vaygr are at least five klicks away – No way!"" a co-pilot shouted.

""Vaygr artillery gunners. They know what they're doin'!""

""Indeed, Hiigarans,"" Ray added, ""Artillery railguns.""

***

Dr. Asad turned around and shouted, "You there! **We cannot allow that cargo to be lost**! Have the refined sediment and junk to be ejected immediately and flood the available vacant space with that claim that is being lost into space!"

"W-What?!" the other _Hive _pilot said, not believing his ears.

"Did you not understand?! Do as I said or -!"

With another rain of projectiles striking upon the already crippled 'Bee' collector, another subdivision of its hull was ruthlessly torn and busted by minor explosions and impacts. Another breed of cries were heard, just before one major but silent explosion occurred aside of the _Hive_ and the other two collectors. Large parts of debris bounced against the hull of the _Hive_, dreaded sounds that frequently bounced among the right side of the large harvester.

""Crap!"" one of the fighter pilots shouted, ""We won't make it in time!""

""The colonel and the Vaygr are almost there!""

At the bridge of the _Vjel-Amaj, _Hailynn frantically prayed for the first time for Kaydaana... Hard to believe that she was even praying for a Vaygr...

C'mon, Kaydy, c'mon!

""Hostile units have crossed the two kilometer barrier! They'll be in close firing range any moment!""

"Aira!" Hailynn shouted and turned herself around. Scaring the girl with her unusually intimidating voice, the girl was startled by her shout.

"Aira, can you extend our communication capabilities to the miners?!"

"Y-Yes, I am able to focus our signal on them now that we are a lot closer to them..." Aira's accented voice stuttered.

"Alright, do it!" Hailynn demanded and turned her head over to one of the communication operatives, "And you – patch us through!"

With another explosion occurring dangerously close to the large mining ship, Asad came to the conclusion that they had stayed long enough. Not even feeling the guilt of having led the Vaygr straight to their position, he moved away from the side of the window and ran ahead to the helm of the cockpit, bumping and pushing other frantic people aside.

"Get us out of here!" Asad shouted just as he reached the helm.

"We don't even know where to fly!" one of the pilots screamed back at him.

Arguing with Asad, the pilot verbally fought with this mad but coward miner.

"'Ey – HEY!", the other pilot announced loudly, "I'm picking up a signal here!"

"What?! From where – who?!"

"Can't really tell! It's being emitted from a distant region. Barely can detect a small object far behind our units that is trying to contact us..."

"Well – what the frell are you waiting for?! Get them through," the superior pilot demanded.

"Hey, I'm the boss here!" Asad shouted, noticing that his authority was actually being undermined. A sixth sense told him that it had to be Hailynn Delixa...

"Shut-up, man!" the pilot yelled.

"Signal locked! They are responding to our signal and are awaiting your transmission, Commander!" the communication operative of the bridge announced, "It's pretty garbled but should be enough for our carrier wave!"

Hailynn immediately grabbed her communication unit, locking her signal upon the specific frequency.

""_Vjel-Amaj_ to _Hive_!"" Hailynn's voice angrily shouted, ""For frakk's sake, which part of 'stealth' did you idiots not understand?!""

""I-I'm sorry, ma'am but-"" but just as the superior pilot recalled, Asad's voice linked itself to the commline.

""Ey, Missy! We have absolutely no time for you and your pointless talkin'!""

""Frakk you, Asad! Get off this line! Damn it! You're responsible for all of this mess-up! Pilot – Arrest that idiot and get him out of the cockpit now – That's a frakking order!""

Without warning, the superior pilot looked at Dr. Asad and immediately pulled his sidearm with its muzzle aiming straight at him. Surprised of this sudden action, Asad instantly moved back and away from the helm of the large cockpit room.

"Enough is enough," the pilot said to him, "One of you, have this guy -" he was about to end his sentence, when an alerting sounded suddenly; A dreadful sound that caught the attention of almost everybody. Turning away from Dr. Asad, both of the pilots looked upon the panels and discovered the incoming threat.

Exactly three minor but intense explosions struck upon the _Hive_'sright and rear side. Knocked by the intense impact, everybody was thrown to the side as the shock field transmitted throughout the ship's body. Unfortunately, the superior pilot and many others within the cockpit were knocked away. Having no chance at all in catching his fall, the side of his head painfully struck upon the side of a nearby console, knocking him out nearly instantly. With the ship slowly turning away, caused by the explosion, the subordinate pilot immediately grabbed the controls and began stabilizing the ship.

"What the frell happened?!" Hailynn furiously asked.

"_Hive_ has received a few hits from missiles, ma'am!"

"Have them receive a guideline back the _Vjel-Amaj _– hurry!"

Several sparks and other power grids busted from certain consoles. Obviously, those fusion missiles caused a short circuit through EMP discharge within the ship's powered systems. Alarms and screams were heard throughout the mining ship. Just as the subordinate pilot suddenly discovered two Vaygr fighters coming straight at them, he hesitated to make a move with his hands. The angels of death have arrived...

But within the same second as he discovered them, a lightning fast and dark green object dashed ahead while leaving a thick blue trail fusion exhaust and ice fragments, crossing the view before him, soon to be followed by another breath-taking object.

With blazing mass-driver cannons, the Acolyte fired a stream of projectiles straight at the oppressing duo of Vaygr fighters. Unaware and seemingly surprised by the sudden appearance of this daring dark green fighter, the projectiles violently ruptured the cockpit and fuselage of one of the Vaygr units.

Barely able to react to the sudden attack, the second Vaygr unit immediately pulled up and away, extracting itself away from its next attempt of attacking the larger ship.

""Ha- YA' not gettin' AWAY, FOOL!"" Kaydaana's ferocious voice shouted over the commline and began pursuing the escaping Vaygr fighter. With her eyes wide open, her heart enraged and her soul burning for battle, this furious Manaani pilot followed the Vaygr with blind obsession.

With her body thrown back and forth by her efforts in dodging the frozen hazards within the region, she blindly kept her eyes practically nailed on the emission trail of the enemy Vaygr fighter that somewhat skillfully made a hasty retreat. A kaleidoscope of blurry colors, focused lines and circles filled her visor and yet her eyes were able to distinguish every single dot. Both hands and feet and the way she moved her body controlled the Acolyte with pinpoint accuracy. Just by the frequent back and forth, side to side movements of her body and shoulders, the Acolyte strafed and dodged elegantly despite her rather wild manner.

Several circles settled upon her target as it dashed away. Spotting the Vaygr target make a slight mistake in flight, Kaydaana instantly pressed this small advantage and armed the missile launchers of her fighter.

"BIG MISTAKE, IDIOT!" she shouted, just before she attempted a triple barrel-roll and pulling the trigger at the same time, causing the Acolyte to launch a pack of two small but swift missiles. Unable to dodge the attack, the Vaygr fighter was struck in the rear quarter by her missiles as she pulled away.

""HAHAAA- Gotcha... huh?!""

""Manaani!"" Ray's deep voice shouted, ""Break away – Break away!""

Not even thinking twice, she pulled her right arm as hard as she could and adjusted her foot pedals likewise. Thanks to the its maneuvering capabilities, the Acolyte fighter possessed a gravity field generator able to cause it to halt, slowdown or cause an erratically wild dodge. Coupled with the fusion thrusters, the Acolyte spun and turned irregularly. Kaydaana, though surprised, understood why Ray shouted at her to break away: laser beams and a short burst of shots were fired upon her region.

_Cunning little bastards...! Nearly pull me into a deathtrap, eh?! _her mind shouted.

Ironically, with her hands and feet performing the Acolyte to dodge all attacks as it wildly flew ahead, Kaydaana's eyes shortly looked to the back, spotting Ray's long fighter still tagged on her six.

Damn... he's good...

Disbelieving but impressed – she once again witnessed how skillful this Vaygr man was, who was still able to stick on her side – and it took a lot to impress a Manaani woman...

""Manaani! Watch your twelve!"" Ray angrily shouted at her.

Distracted by her notion, Kaydaana's visor flashed a collision warning. Throwing her face back ahead, the pupils of her eyes went small as she discovered a frozen hazard coming straight for her. Loosing her focus on all the Vaygr, she instinctively kicked her left foot, causing the Acolyte just barely tipping the very edge of that hazard...

""Manaani! Are you trying to kill yourself?!""

""Hey – Damn it!"" she tried to say something, but instead, she needed to dodge another streak of dark blue cutting beams trying to slice her fighter into pieces as they already did upon larger ice hazards...

At the same time, the _Hive_ and its remaining two _Bee_ resource collectors began their flight heading for the hidden _Vjel-Amaj_. Still not able to align the course correctly, the confused pilot announced:

""_Hive _to _Vjel-Amaj_ – We have difficulties in plotting a decent rally point to your position! It seems that we have some sort of guidance failure!""

With a short delay, Hailynn's garbled voice was heard among their speakers, ""_Hive_! No need to worry – Follow our probe, it will lead you by following the guideline!""

""P-Probe?! What probe, I see nothing but -"" the subordinate pilot frantically shouted, but then discovered an object ahead in the 'dark wind', flashing guidance signals and lights. Hearing several melodic and electronic sounds, he soon heard the voice of Aira, ""Pl-Please follow me!""

The pilot shook his head, not believing that he was not able to see this nimble probe lurking right in front of him before it began to emit signal lights. Looking back shortly, he discovered his superior being carried ahead, who suffered a bleeding wound on the side of his forehead, obviously a minor concussion like many others. Demanding everybody brace themselves, he turned back and focused the ship's flight upon the designated course of the probe. Quietly lifting up the lost handgun, Asad secretly shoved it into one of the pockets of his suit...

A batch of destructed debris busted among the side of a lance fighter as Ray's fighter fired upon it. A strange unknown voice shouted among the commline before its destruction, ""You... TRAITOR! You shame Vaygr Pride-" The enemy fighter pilot screamed, before the channel was cut in a hash of static.

Unknown to the others, Ray seemed to be affected by the words of his former brethren. Several times had a few of the eliminated Vaygr cursed him.

""Frakk you, fool!"" Kaydaana shouted behind as the hostile fighter exploded. Her heart pounded loudly, but she was enjoying every second of this action. Despite the region being full of dreadful hazards, her mind knew when something was incoming. She had already gotten used to the surroundings, surely not to be comprised or surprised just several moments before. Spotting a small group of Hiigaran fighters and gunships taking on the group of hostile Vaygr, she added, ""Ah-bout time y'all showed up!""

With the gunships side-slipping and able to take the last few targets of Vaygr foes, both interceptors provided covering fire, giving protection for Kaydaana and Ray.

""Colonel!"" one of the pilots announced, ""The _Hive_ and its small group making their way back to the _Amaj_ – but they are soon to be compromised by the second wave of Vaygr fighters! It looks like they're hot on their tails!""

""Y'all disengage and let us all get back to tha _Hive_! This ain't over yet...!""

Meanwhile on the bridge of _Vjel-Amaj_, as the battle to place, the crew focused on their tasks the best they could as Hailynn and a few others observed the ongoing rescue operation. Wanting to speak to Hailynn, the Captain suddenly called her attention, "Commander Delixa."

"Y-Yes, Captain?"

"It seems as if our units are able to extract the M.I.A.s, however I am concerned of our own attempt of escape thereafter..." he said with a firm voice.

"Sir?" she asked, confused.

"Captain? I do not understand either," Orelis also included.

"Eh?" Ensign Fenna added, "Me neither..."

The three looked at Fenna shortly, a bit surprised why this rather "unnecessary" Ensign was speaking up.

"According to the situation," the Captain continued, "we must be aware that the Vaygr Battlecruiser is still seeking us. With its units dispatched and following ours, the _Vjel-Amaj_ is in danger of being compromised by this dreadnought, which will certainly detect our ship when the mining ships reveal our true position."

They understood what he was trying to explain. Hailynn was not aware of this at all. Yet another factor she greatly underestimated.

"What are we... to... do?" Fenna asked, again unusually interrupting the group.

"We have no choice, Ensign. All of our units would need to board our vessel as fast as possible and Aira would need to enforce the hyperspace jump..."

Several minutes later, the _Hive _had been moderately damaged by frequent attacks. With the other two _Bee _collectors able to hide behind it, the main ship bravely withstood the attacks. Though the hull still was able to withstand another group of attacks, many worried whether they were going to survive this flight. The _Hive _was already leaving trails and streams from damaged segments and minor outer sections.

Thanks to the ongoing efforts of Kaydaana and her wing of courageous fighter pilots and their skillful Vaygr ally, they slowly began to gain the upper hand in this fierce combat, despite them already being stressed and only having suffered minor damage. With Aira's probe at the lead, the pilot focused the course the best he could, even with the additional malfunctions caused by the attacks.

In the meantime, the third Vaygr group was about to enter their vicinity. This was not good at all, for all the Hiigaran fighters and their ally were still trying to suppress the attacks of the remaining Vaygr foes. Though there were only a few of these opponents left, it slowly became clear that these fighters were obviously more skilled and dangerous than the usual ones. They were capable of dodging the barrage of shots emitted from the gunships and the frequent attacks of Kaydaana's interceptors.

But what actually caused worry were the words of the Vaygr devoted to Ray... After every attempt of attack, they called out short remarks to him, calling him traitor and insulting his goal in bringing the Hiigarans and their brethren to safety. They all called that the Hiigarans and his people would die in agony just like those who had fallen before to the Vaygr crusade.

Slowly entering a denser and turbulent region than before, it seemed as if the group was not far away from the _Vjel-Amaj_ and the giant ice rock it was situated on. However, Kaydaana and the others were not aware of the concerns of the Captain...

""The third group is coming in fast on our position, colonel!"" one of the gunship gunner's called out, ""We're in deep trouble!""

""This is the wrong time for more company!"" Ace shouted as he fought trying to keep focused upon one of the skillful opponents.

Kaydaana needed to come up with something... something fast! She did not know if bombers were in that last group, but for sure they would have lance fighters. While those laser beams are evadable – barely - they could cause severe damage to the _Hive_ and the _Bee _collectors. A serious threat to be reckoned with!

Adjusting her commline to a safe and secure frequency, she called out to her units, ""Everybody, disengage and regroup at the _Hive_!""

""But-""

""Do as ah said! Hurry!"" Kaydaana shouted back at them.

Soon noticing the Hiigarans and the traitor retreating from their Vaygr foes, they also disbanded from the close combat and attempted long range attacks as one of them said over the commline, ""Well – well... The Hiigarans on retreat..."" Reinforced by the third group, the Vaygr attackers reformed into a dreadful formation and began their approach to the Hiigaran group, ""Say your last prayers, Hiigarans! It will be the only thing you will be able to do before the death of space will crush you!"" the same threatening voice shouted.

""Don't listen to that idiot!"" Kaydaana said to her people, the miners and Ray, ""Alright everybody! Listen up! I want all of you to move as close to the _Hive_ as possible and have all of your visual aids only limited to blue!""

""W-What?! How are we supposed to aim without the other guidance systems?!"", one of the pilots shouted at her, obviously protesting, ""Colonel, you've got to be out of your mind! As if she ever were normal...!""

""We won't stand a friggin' chance if y'all won't do as ah command!""

""This is going to kill us..."" he said and shook his head.

Though under protest, they did as she said, deactivating a group of guidance systems, causing their visual guidance to fade away and only reveal a dangerously weak feed of information on their surroundings. But what was Kaydaana's intention? With all fighters and collectors bundled so close to the _Hive_, they would be easy-to-hit targets...

""_Hive_!"" Kaydaana now shouted out, ""'Sparks'! How many?!""

""We have... plenty,"" the subordinate pilot slowly replied, but also he was confused by her question at first, ""Ma'am, those flares won't help a bit against their upcoming attack! With that grouping they got, they will attack us all at once... and with this area so filled of hazards, I don' think we'll -"" but then he paused..., ""- wait... no... Now I get it...""

Kaydaana nodded several times, she knew that he was understanding her somewhat hideous plan.

""Well - hey,"" another one of the Hiigaran pilots announced, ""I don't know what this wacky plan of yours is, colonel, but if it's to wait until they're close enough for both of us to attack – we might as well go for a suicidal attack – here and now!""

""No. Just watch 'n' listen, Ace. _Hive_ – Yah know what ah want, don't yah?!""

""I understand, colonel. Maximum intensity... Full spread. Load all 'sparks,' maximum intensity and full spread... Yes... you heard right!"" the pilot of the _Hive_replied.

""Now... just for those idiots to come closer. Keep yer setting on blue – and ah still advise all of yah to keep yer eyes... protected..."" Kaydaana added with a devilish tone in her voice.

Indeed, the Vaygr enemies were closing in on their position – and they were closing in at blinding speed. With all weapon systems hot, their close range attack was going to be the so-called deathstrike... They were sure of their success...

""Fire!"" Kaydaana's voice suddenly shouted over all comm-lines.

All of a sudden, the _Hive_ fired a multitude of heavily charged flares upon all possible arcs. Shooting at all possible angles, the area was instantly covered with small and rather moderate glowing flares that for sure were normal and weak for the bare Kushan eye... However, what seemed weak for the Kushan eye was dangerously high, bright and intense for any other sensor to detect, excluding the current setting of the visual aid of the fleeing Hiigaran group. Only noticing a weak change in their field of view, the region of Kaydaana's visual aid and those of the others among her group were not affected by this visual blast. The blue and dark blue fuzz of their visors continued to reveal the surrounding hazards as usual, however it still was needed to pinch the eyes a bit...

The Vaygr, however, were suddenly blinded by the intensity that almost instantly burned the retinas of their eyes. Being surprised, blinded and overwhelmed by the sudden outburst of flashes, their ongoing intimidating speech was interrupted by their shouting. Losing control and not able to see anything, many of the incoming Vaygr uncontrollably crashed into several rocks of ice. Kaydaana had no remorse, not even the slightest regret for their enemies, as they one-by-one blindly collided with each other and other objects. Some fired, others tried to dodge, but all in all, it was a hopeless attempt...

_Burn in the hell of Kharak..._

***

With the flares' intensity levels slowly fading away, Aira slowly opened her eyes. What at first enveloped her had mentally burned her skin, was now a weak radiation of 'heat' on her back. But just as she opened her eyes, she was staggered by her view. That howling being, lurking in the wake of this wild icy world that surrounded her, was in front of her. An unexpected appearance, for this Kadeshi girl forgot the past confrontation of this enigmatic female being. Timelessly floating in front of each other, Aira was far from trying to physically raise her hands and thus disconnect her focus. With the responsibility of leading these beloved people back, she became desperate, unease and began to panic, easily heard by rushing breaths and poundings. Aira's mind was not able to make a move. She was paralyzed.

_Who...are...you...?_

That voice once again hollowed in her mind. The lips of this female being did not move. Aira still remained startled.

_A...young...mind. A... young... unbound... mind... Here?_

What did she mean? Aira did not understand. She was a young adolescent Kadeshi girl somehow blessed by the Bentusi, she really did not know why. Nonetheless, she was not an 'unbound,' but a so-called entity. An entity of such who for sure never could do as much as what an 'unbound' were capable of to percept, express and conceive. The girl felt that she was only an imitator, in other words, an imposter, of what the 'unbound' truly were. Ever the girl wished to become 'unbound' but never was this to happen. But why was this being mistakenly calling her 'unbound'? Aira's soul somehow thirsted for more, but she still remained silent.

_What... is... it... that... you... seek? Rahji's... tear... within... his...sacred...sanctuary? The... lost...love...of...Kadesha?_

Aira moved back slightly as she was shocked of the beings words. Her hands mentally embraced her necklace. How was she to know of her innermost seeking? This being somewhat spoke in a different language as well, and yet, Aira's mind comprehended every single exotic word. The voice of the being however spoke slowly, as if it were weakened and exhausted.

_Your soul beseeches... answers. My soul will... answer. Our souls are... connected... We are... unbound. Our thoughts and minds are one... The song of space... The stream of time... all connects us to one..._

Aira slowly began to calm down, but there still was a rest of excitement in her.

_Aira... your name is..._

The girl looked up upon the female being. Soon, a bit more of her face and body was revealed, however only slightly. Aira was unable to properly determine the being's true identity, for it was partially concealed. The pose of the female being's body resembled a very weakened posture, as if it were floating lifelessly within something. But there was much more, groups of long cords... perhaps cables... were connected among the beings body and read arc of her head, partially covered by her floating hair. The being did not seem well at all. The sight of this being did frighten Aira again, soon to be heard by the distant sounds again.

_Shodanii... my name is..._

Aira kept quiet.

_You seek... for more... I sense this..._

Somehow, Aira could not hide her innermost thoughts and deepest desires.

_The... Vaygr. They wish to end your song. This must not occur... I plead you..._

What was this being trying to say to Aira?

The being disappeared in an instant as Aira found herself still hearing the sounds of the probe, guiding the others back to the _Vjel-Amaj_. Though slightly lost in mind, Aira feared that something was bound to happen.

**- Blind Covenant – **

(voice of the narrator)

Fate guides us all. Every now and then, fate gives us the chance to decide. The chance to choose the path to follow. We are blind. Decisions of our fate is always bond to the following effect. With our bind decision causing an effect to our fate, which way are we to choose?

(end of narrative speech)

With the _Hive_ and its group surviving the attacks of the Vaygr strikers, the group slowly made its way to the _Vjel-Amaj _and its resting position. However, the situation was about to become more critical than it already was...

The dangerous and constantly flowing gush of ice particles was increasing. The small pellets that hailed upon the hull were slowly becoming larger, some getting thicker and thicker. Although these chunks crumbled upon the hull of every ship, it was clear that time was running out.

Hearing another large chunk splintering upon the hull of the _Vjel-Amaj_, a female operative was scared by the sudden disturbing noise, "Wh-what's going on out there?"

"I'm afraid that this icy asteroid is slowly rotating towards the nucleus of the comet," Kenta explained, "This will lead to higher hazard level any moment. Captain, I advise to leave this area as soon as possible."

"The _Hive_ and its units are soon to dock with our ship. We will maintain this position until they are safely aboard. Nevertheless, preparations for the longjump should be completed by then. Have all preparations to be done."

Responding to the Captain's order, Orelis replied to his command, "Captain, engineering has already completed preparations for our jump. Due to the circumstances of our preceding situation, operative Aira is the only one who is capable of conducting and executing our jump to safety, sir. If I understood right, she was able to memorize a patch of stars, allowing us to find our way back to our territory."

"Very well."

"Sir..." Kenta's voice called.

"What is it, Ms. Kenta?"

"With our position slowly being exposed to the comet's core, I am detecting a shadow figure situated several kilometers high above our position. Needless to say, this is the Vaygr Battleship..."

A few of the crewmen became uneasy.

Kenta continued, "Captain... I... This is not good. There are several waves of active scans sweeping our vector. I fear that whatever attempt our units caused recently to mislead and obliterate the Vaygr attackers has also caused the battleship to focus their seekers to this vector."

Taking over the word, Quan added, "If I am understanding things correctly, the _Hive_ launched an over-charged barrage of their own flares, causing their surroundings to be flooded with a 'sensor flash' that somehow blinded the Vaygr attackers totally by surprise. I assume it was a tactic that worked out, but it also has endangered us even more..."

"In other words," Hailynn lastly said, "We're about to be detected!"

"Word, Commander. We must leave this area, ASAP."

"Aira," Hailynn called up to the girl, "Have that jump ready, okay?"

The girl nodded shortly, but she was actually distracted.

As the _Bee_ collectors began their approach for docking finally, they both had difficulties in maintain the proper approach as the turbulences and resistances gained on speed and power. During this procedure, Kenta soon discovered what she feared:

"Alert! A distant sensor sweep originating from a different position has focused upon this area! Captain, I am not taking any risks here – I fear we have been compromised!"

"We expected this to happen."

"Yes sir – I know – but these sweeps are not coming from the Vaygr Battlecruiser!"

"Explain."

"We were able to follow the systematic sweeps of the enemy vessel – they were scanning a totally different vector just recently!"

"Captain – They are sensory probes!" Quan added, as he discovered another small object closing in on their position.

"We're already beyond being detected," Orelis included his discovery as he stared upon the screen, "We're being marked just now! I guess Aira was unable to detect these since she is still controlling the probe for landing!"

"There are still enough obstacles to protect us!" Hailynn shouted, but was interrupted by Quan's remark.

"Warning! A group probes have appeared from nowhere! They are dangerously close and- "

Within a short moment, the few of those probes landed upon giant frozen asteroid – and not all too soon, one probe thudded upon the hull of the _Vjel-Amaj_. The crew of the _Vjel-Amaj_ took the success for granted... but now discovered that they were about to be punished for being foolish.

"The frell with being 'marked' – we've been tagged!" Orelis shouted loudly, only revealing the slightest of their problems. With excitement filling the bridge's atmosphere, they all knew was about to happen. With the Vaygr Battlecruiser having practically most of its fighters destroyed or missing in action, they expected the worst, the use of the Trinity Cannon and the destructive heavy fusion missiles.

"Oh no – The enemy vessel is altering its heading directly to ours!" Kenta cried.

"Captain – I can only say that they don't care anymore about the damage they might sustain while diving on us! They're going to give us all they got!"

"We have wasted enough time," the Captain said, showing that he came to a conclusion, "Have all of our units to dock simultaneously! We do not have to the time for secure docking!"

"Yes sir, orders underway!" an operative situated further away confirmed, "Both _Bee_ collectors have completed docking, awaiting the _Hive_, _Scoutling_ and the other units to dock!"

"Only two _Bee_s?", Hailynn asked.

"No more time to waste - Prepare _code: black_!"

Hearing the command, Hailynn took over and announced _code: black_, calling all onboard to brace themselves for another intensive nonstop hyperspace jump. But as she looked upon the helm of the bridge, she noticed again that it was unmanned and she felt incapable of taking over the control. Her orientation sense was actually still knocked out and the pills she took were actually doing more worse than good. She was not calm at all.

Looking at Ensign Fenna, Fenna read in Hailynn's eyes that she was not in the right condition for the task. Fenna only shook her head, showing to Hailynn that the drugs she took were not doing any good at all – but instead of beginning a silent argument, Fenna made her way to the helm. She had the urge to protest, since she was a rather inexperienced pilot but she could not escape this now...

With several knocks and rumbles transmitted throughout the ship, the operative from before confirmed, "All units have safely docked, Captain!"

As the probe landed safely onboard the _Vjel-Amaj_, Aira's mind was slightly relieved from disconnecting. But there was no time for feeling safe, she already heard the speech of the other among her. Soon to have all units to be sealed aboard, all she would have to do is lock the emerge-destination-point of the _Vjel-Amaj _to Amaji territory.

Stretching her arm and opening her hand to a certain direction, Aira developed the image she perfectly memorized that revealed the patch of stars. Acting as a small aid of navigation and stellar cartography, she was soon able to see the desired destination... but as she continued with the plotting of the hyperjump, thoughts began to fill her mind.

This was it... This was going to be the last time she would be able to see Rahji's grave. Aira wished to stay longer to seek for his relic tear, but her Naji, Hailynn, and the beloved souls of this ship were in danger. Hailynn plead her to leave this system and with it Rahji's sanctuary. She looked down – but then suddenly felt a rumble along with a flash occurring very close to their position.

"Missile barrage! They firing upon us! Damn it!" Orelis shouted, "That was only small portion of their arsenal! They will soon have a high chance of landing a direct hit with their heavy weapons!"

"Navigator Fenna," the Captain called out to the nervous woman at the helm, "Engage thrust profile. We must leave this region."

Gulping as she heard his command, Fenna feared whether she was able to control this ship correctly – especially with Hailynn staring at her back. Grabbing the controls, Fenna activated all systems for liftoff. With power gauges charging and having the checkup diagnosis to be skipped, the ship was ready to raise itself. As she pushed her pedals and other certain controls, the ship began to rumble and tremble like in an earthquake. Trying to compensate with other possible thrust sequences, the ship did not raise itself at all. Something was not right.

"W-why are we not lifting?!" Orelis asked with an unintentionally shaky voice.

"Damn!", Hailynn shouted, "We've been laying here for far too long! We're frozen stuck!"

"Disengage all drives, we shall perform the hyperjump from here!"

"You heard the Captain, Aira! Do it!"

Although the girl heard the words of her Naji, she was mentally distracted by the reappearance of the female being again that floated in front of her.

_I plea to you... Do not leave... Young one..._

Aira wished to stay, but she knew she could not. All the other lives onboard wanted to escape.

_I plea to you... You are in danger... do not leave... by the path you wish to choose..._

The girl raised her head. What was she meaning now?

_The void... The black maelstrom... The black hole..._

The being turned herself around, showing the image of the patch field of stars. As it rotated, Aira shockingly discovered that the image was corrupted... corrupted by the event horizon of a black hole. The images of these stars were not true! Aira's eyes widened. A direct flight would have caused immediate death... Though thankful, Aira stretched her hand to the same image, causing the destination point to be altered further away from the event horizon to a safer point. However, Aira had difficulties in actually doing so. Each time she tried to lock the destination point, she discovered that she did not have enough stellar information – thus it would only result in a blind jump. Suddenly, the female being turned itself in front of Aira, covering her view. Shodanii, as this being called herself, seemed to stop Aira from her task, despite her innermost desire not to leave this system. The girl cowered back slightly.

_Fear not... Young mind. I plea to you. Come... to... me._

Seeing this 'unbound' being reaching out for her, Shodanii's hand smoothly slid upon Aira's cheek. Stunned by the touch, the paralyzed girl did not resist. She heard the shout of a familiar voice calling her to perform the hyperjump, but due to the dangerous discovery, Aira was in despair.

_I know what your soul seeks... Serenity, it is what I seek... I plea to you... Follow my song... join me... Help my seeking for serenity... Rahji is what you seek, Haven is what your people seek... My soul possesses the guidance you and your people seek... Young mind... _

Death was coming from above. With the Vaygr Battlecruiser finally reaching the best attack position as it dived down upon the frozen-stuck _Vjel-Amaj_, the vessel was about to fire from its high position situated several kilometers above.

"Sajuuk... H-Heavy fusion torpedoes inbound!" Kenta cried, knowing how devastating this attack was going to be.

"Alert, Trinity Cannon has fired upon us along with another missile barrage – It's an alpha strike aimed for our head!" Orelis shouted, "They want us dead – really DEAD!"

"Aira!" Hailynn shouted.

_Child..._ the voice of Shodanii said as her hand reached ahead and opened its palm, _I am enslaved... I seek serenity... It is I who can lead you to your soul's desire... and to the safe haven of your people... It is your choice... young mind... Is it my song you wish to hear?_

Aira needed to decide. Aira frequently heard her name being shouted in reality... Time was running out. Shodanii spoke in a mysterious manor, but somehow, Aira understood exactly what this being wanted. It was Aira who was to decide what to do... Leave this system for good? But how? The escape route she planned to take was corrupted? Aira was able to sense Shodanii's mind... Neither did she mean harm, nor was she lying. The image of Shodanii only was a spirit of herself, originating somewhere else, within one of the densest regions of system. Tormented by the decision, Aira's self began to become unease. The grand deathstrike was almost here... Her heart already pounded so loud and hard that she shuddered. Aira looked up upon Shodanii with a tear in her eye. If she were to trust Shodanii, were the others to understand her decision?

_We seek answers... and serenity... Young one..._

Slowly raising her hand, Aira's hand approached Shodanii's open palm.

"Attack will hit in 30 seconds!"

"For the frell of Kharak – Aira! Get us out of here!" Hailynn shouted, herself already out of control.

Suddenly, the ship began to rumble – but a lot different than usual. Soon, the whole bridge and the ship was flooded by the bass vibration of the intensified hyperdrive expanding a hyperspace wavefront upon the ship.

"Finally! Everybody – hold on and hang TIGHT!"

Everybody, including Hailynn and Orelis, braced themselves. However, Hailynn, was anxious like never before. Though her body was out of control, she felt euphoric - finally they were going to leave this dreaded M'randara Star System for good...!

_We unbound listen to the song... follow my song..._

Aira trembled...

_...Forgive me... My Naji..._

Aira had no other choice...

Enveloped by the violent wavefront field slipping along the hull of the _Vjel-Amaj_, the ship vanished as the field collapsed, ripping the chunk of ice with it into hyperspace. Only a single moment later, several cruel explosions occurred exactly upon that spot... missing its target by three seconds. The explosions were so intense that it left a gigantic crater upon the frozen rock of ice, tearing most of its exterior away.

With the failure in destroying the Hiigaran vessel, a gloved fist is slammed upon the side of a console... Smashing the screens beneath with anger.


	10. Chapter 10 Following the song

Special thanks to Betareader "SOTS" from Fanfiction net, id=1474306

Aira opened her eyes, finding herself holding and being gently pulled by the hand of the enigmatic being whose name was Shodanii. So many thoughts and feelings flew through her... Where they were going, she did not know exactly. However, the Kadeshi girl became worried, as she was not able to sense reality. Her physical body was still symbiotically connected to the sensorial interface, although it was common that the whole ship would occupy all physical sensation during such dangerous flights. Countless wakes, cloud formations and vast shrouds of dense gases colored only in black and white dashed past them at blinding speed as both beings were pulled along their path.

Aira felt the heat of the nearby star warming her skin. Looking to her side, she watched as the sun disappeared behind a dense cloud of gas, the phantom warmth vanishing with it. With every moment that passed by, they were soon to be totally consumed by a very dense region filled of gas. But as the two were pulled ahead, Aira discovered something, something far different and more unusual than before. Despite her being unease regardingwhere this being was leading her, her deepest fear was hardly present – It was still there, but it did not totally consume her soul as usual. For the first time, the flay noise of hyperspace was not the only thing that filled her ears. Just for this brief moment, Aira sensed harmony among the chaos. Her mind was not able to comprehend it totally, perhaps because it wastoo young. What she heard was beautiful. Never had she heard of such harmony before... 

**Chapter 10 – Following the song...**

The bass, rumbling noise ceased as the _Vjel-Amaj_ exited hyperspace, and sounds of discharge were heard as the ship quietened down. Startled and surprised by the sudden calmness, everybody within the bridge looked around as the ship automatically charged power and lighting to all systems, shunts and stations.

Something was not right...

"Umm..." Orelis said and rubbed his forehead, "We've... dropped from hyperspace - _already_?"  
"No frakking way... " Hailynn cursed.  
"Either somebody stopped us... or that was the most _shortest_ flight to Amaji space..."

"Calm down, you two. All stations, immediate situation report. Are we in danger? Why have we emerged from hyperspace so early?" the Captain requested with a commanding voice over the two.

Responding to the Captain's request, several voices from different stations gave their report one by one.

"We've got a problem for now – now that we've _dropped_ from hyperspace so suddenly..." Technical Engineer Zann reported, "As foreseen, engineering reports that the hyperspace module is overstrained and currently beyond the capability of generating a stable wavefront for the next... few days. If we had flown continuously, we would have emerged within Amaji space in around 24 hours. However, we barely flew even ten minutes, sir."

"_Few days_... You can't be serious!" the female commander shook her head as she remarked her anger in words, "Why a _few days_?!"

"Ma'am, you must understand that the hyperdrive module and its conduits are very sensitive systems," Zann continued, speaking a bit too fast with his techno-babble, "Setting the conduits to enforce a grav-strain beyond their maximum efficiency as you demanded was a reckless decision. The whole system was set for the one-way longjump trip... We are actually lucky the conduits have not breached!"

Kenta spoke right after one of the other operatives ended their speech, "As far as I can see, Captain, we are clear of the comet... but..."

A painful and annoying pulsing was felt in Hailynn's head. She simply could not believe it. Angrily detaching herself from her seat, she immediately raised herself, interrupting the reports to the Captain. She was reacting in a very high-tempered manner – so angry that she insulted every person who gave his or her report by blaming each one of them for the _mess-up_ she argued about. Hailynn ripped open her stained uniform and collar in order to cool herself, revealing the black vest beneath. She was burning mad.

"What the frakk is going on with you people?!" she shouted throughout the bridge and immediately walked ahead to the helm, soon to be behind Fenna, who anxiously cowered as her superior officer screamed next to her, "Don't give me that crap that we are _STILL _in this frakking system!"

"I-I'm sorry, ma'am," Kenta stuttered, "I cannot really say where we are... but... we are certainly still within the M'randara System... Position: Unknown. Obs is incapable of designating anything... Our overall sensor readings are greatly reduced by the dense gas that is surrounding us. We require some time for recalibration... I am sorry but -"

"Commander – it is not her fault," Zann added, trying to cover Kenta from the verbal attacks of Hailynn. Zann had discovered the cause for the ending of their hyperspace flight.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Hailynn voice thundered throughout the deck, "What the frell pulled us out of hyperspace then?! What is now, huh?! Let me guess: Probably some frakking Kadeshi Mothership lurking out there with its inhibitor field – or the whole frakking Vaygr crusade?! What – WHAT?!"

Apparently, Hailynn was fed up from all the events that kept happening. All she wanted was to get out of this star system for good, but all of hopes failed as she discovered that they were still stuck within it. However, her harsh tone and aggressive speech to others was very unusual.

"Ha-Hailey – calm- calm down -!" Orelis said, but was not able to finish his sentence.

"Frell with calming down, Orelis! All what I _wanted_ was to have my plan followed – but obviously everybody always had to _screw_ it up!" she shouted back at him , "Our only frakking job was to get in, get everybody, and get out! But instead we still end up flying in frakking circles! Enough is frakking enough – I've had it with these frakking problems within this frakking system!" Hailynn was shouting and cursing even more than Fenna before.

"Commander! Please – listen – It was not caused by an outer source or danger...!" Zann shouted at her, trying to make her aware of what he wanted to say before.

Orelis, who could not believe how Hailynn was behaving, glanced at the Captain. Just as Orelis was about to intervene the argument, the Captain surprisingly gave him the subtle sign to stay out of this situation. Why was the Captain not reacting to all of this? For sure, he was not a sadist, but he did seem to observe this – as if he wanted to see the outcome of this argument. But all in all, Orelis did indeed feel disturbed by the Captain's manner of command and his executive distribution. Ever since this operation began had he left practically all decisions up to Hailynn. Orelis was not able to come to the conclusion why he let all of this happen.

"- Oh what - WHAT made us fall out of hyperspace – WHAT?!" Hailynn shouted, slamming her fist against one of the consoles next to the helm.

"Our emergence was not caused by an artificial or natural gravity field! Not by our systems malfunctioning either! It was caused-"

"By WHAT?!"

Zann calmed his voice, "- by _our_ intention. The collapse of the quantum wavefront was caused because this point – our current position – was _programmed _as our... destination."

"As our destination...Huh, but who... ?"

While many were surprised, it was the drop of Hailynn's shoulders that showed how amazingly astonished she was. Cursing one more time, her view turned upwards to a certain person positioned at higher spot of the bridge.

Kenta decided to end her report, "Ma'am, Captain. I am afraid this is true. Not only are we still within this densely shrouded region of the star system, I am able... to c-confirm that this position was set precisely - partially through observatory and primarily by... sensory..."

"Our emerge-point is... near-to-perfect..." Fenna added as last, but immediately shut her mouth as she looked at Hailynn from behind, who curled both of her hands into a fist as she stared up upon a certain station.

Hailynn felt betrayed, fooled by all of her hopes that rested upon the hands of that certain {one}person. After a short moment, Hailynn made a step ahead to the center of the bridge as she fiercely yelled the name of that person who was responsible for the cause:  
"**AIRAAAAAAAA!**"

**- When souls shatter... –**

Outright scared by the shouting voice, Aira's heart immediately jumped as she heard her name being shouted throughout the whole bridge. Due to the sudden reaction, the appearance of Shodanii immediately disappeared. Her soul cried not to leave her, but it was too late. Becoming aware of her surroundings, the Kadeshi girl discovered that all eyes were focused at her – but one angry pair practically nailed upon her. Signaled by Hailynn to come down at once, Aira disconnected herself from the belts upon her body and arose from the sensory station to climb down. Every part of her was shivering as she climbed down the integrated ladder. Unfortunately, the girl did not know what was going on and why everybody was staring at her, obviously was she too distracted by the causes within the interface.

Hailynn rubbed her face with the side of her hand as the girl stood before her. Though Aira was at first surprised by her name being shout, she looked up upon Hailynn and gave her a gentle smile... obviously, she really had _no idea_ what was going on.

"Aira..." Hailynn sighed rubbed her strained eyes one more time, "Tell me... Tell me why we are still in this system..."

Responding to her caretaker's request, the Kadeshi girl took a short breath before she began to explain, "Ever since we were chased by the Vaygr ship to Kadesha's Tear... ah – I mean, fr-frozen comet, my soul was hailed by a distant being. I am not sure, but, my naji, she is in need of help! "  
"Hailed? By a 'being' – woman?"  
"Y-Yes – but not any woman, my naji, s-she is a gifted being – She is _unbound_!" Aira's voice pronounced with a sort of happiness, "You must understand that I did not have much of a choice and -"

All the sudden, Hailynn shook her head and began to push the girl back slightly. The woman could not believe her ears.

"M-My naji. I tried to find a way back to our... I mean... y-your homeworld, but I was not capable – Our pa-path was corrupted... It was tainted..."

"Tainted, yeah right - Don't give me that _bullshit_, girl! How could you bring us to such a place?! We could be on our way BACK HOME just now!"

As the dialog took place, both Quan and Kenta looked at each other. They did not need to say a word to each other for they both thought the same. What did the girl mean? Both immediately focused themselves on researching. Aira was not a liar, they knew this – There had to be reason for all of this.

Aira flinched at first. Though slightly shocked by Hailynn's aggressive reactions, she did hope that Hailynn's innermost sanity would understand and sooth her anger – which Aira greatly underestimated.  
The naive Kadeshi girl approached Hailynn as she explained further, her words spoken fast and unstable, "My naji, please! P-Please, listen... The _unbound_ being, her name is Shodanii... She is an _enslaved_ being – I do not know why – but her soul is true and good-hearted! Sh-She is willing to support us and sanctify our needs..." the girl was blinded by her own well-meant notions and she was misunderstanding every single behavior of her caretaker as well, "Is it not the Amaji nature for us to... _embrace those in need_, like my naji?" Aira smiled shortly and nervously spoke further, "Sh-Shodanii has what we seek and need... She knows of my quest for Rahji, our quest for returning to your homeworld... if we are therefore to give her _serenity._ What Shodanii seeks as _serenity_, I do not know what she truly wishes, but she begs us to help her, my naji! I... I _decided_ to follow her _song_ instead of following the path back to your homeworld. I-I just... had to..."

The systems of the bridge hummed as everybody listened in. The Kadeshi girl sounded so determined. She looked down to the floor. There was a feeling of guilt in her heart as she calmed down.

Making one more step ahead, Aira did not look up to Hailynn as she slowly touched and gently lifted Hailynn's left hand, "My naji, never was I to ever think of being so close to the truth of Rahji, of the whereabouts of his divine sanctuary... or ever to be embraced by an _unbound_..." Aira paused as her cheek met Hailynn's palm and as her cheek rubbed Hailynn's rather pulsing hot hand, Aira closed her eyes as she slowly spoke further, "I have prayed... and the gods of Kadesh answered my prayers – though my soul is so far away... My naji, I heard the song of hyperspace and the song of Shodanii... Never have I heard of such... _harmony..._"

Many within the bridge were shocked as they saw an alarming movement by Hailynn's right hand. Some of them lifted themselves but were simply too shocked of what was about to happen... least expected by the naive Kadeshi girl whose eyes remained closed, not even sensing what was about to happen. As Hailynn gritted her teeth together, she harshly slipped her left hand away from Aira's cheek... soon to be followed by a dreadful action...

The violent sound struck throughout the bridge... followed by Aira's short-lived but painful cry.  
Not aware of anything and greatly underestimating Hailynn's emotions, Aira was somewhat **brutally** smacked upon the side of her face. As Hailynn's hand reached the end of its swing, the weak Kadeshi girl was knocked to the left side as the brute force of her caretaker's innermost anger viciously slapped her face. What just took place within a second was breathtaking for many viewers, stunned by the sudden event. Hailynn breathed loudly, the pain in her head pulsing even more than before, her anger taking full control of her.

Aira's side painfully met the cold hard floor. Lost in her pain and awe, Aira tried to curl away but froze as she looked up upon Hailynn, who angrily stared down upon her. Due to the soft and vulnerable skin of the girl, her cheek and the other side of her head and shoulder immediately bruised as tears shot from eyes.

"COMMANDER DELIXA!" the Captain suddenly yelled towards his commander and stood up, but was immediately interrupted by Hailynn's uncontrolled reply...  
"SHUT-UP!"

Amazed by her mindless insult, everybody did not believe their ears as Hailynn verbally offended the Captain, her superior officer, to shut-up. She looked back down at the weak Kadeshi girl whose trembling hand touched her red, swollen cheek...

The pure hatred was written in Hailynn's eyes, "You... betrayed me!" she viciously said and squeezed her fist so tightly that she did not even feel her nails actually piercing the skin.

"DELIXA – That's is enough! I am relieving you of duty!"

"Frakk you – Frakk the Kadeshi and their stupid beliefs - Frakk all you and this frakking operation!" she yelled at everybody.

Aira immediately tried to get up, but with the pain emitting among the side of her head, she slightly fell back to the floor due to her disorientation. It took several tries before she managed to fearfully crawl and run away from Hailynn. Bypassing everybody, the frightened girl ran off, leaving the bridge and the madness of her caretaker behind.

"Damn it, Hailynn – A-Are you insane?!" Orelis shouted and made a sudden approach.

"Frakk you!" the woman shouted back at him and reached for her sidearm.

The situation was getting more and more out of control by the second – but as Hailynn reached round towards her holster, Fenna surprisingly interfered by catching hold of her wrist, forcing it away from the weapon the best she could. Being the second nearest person to intervene and able to react immediately, Orelis charged ahead in order to help out. Others wanted to support. Many were still buckled up, but those who already stood took cover as Hailynn's aim swung around.

"Get OFF me, you frakking traitor!" Hailynn shouted.

"H-Hailey- You're out of y-your mind! C-Calm-" Fenna shouted, but suddenly felt her breath escaping her lungs as Hailynn struck her. Unfortunately, Hailynn did not come to her senses at all – instead, she felt being attacked from all sides. With her heart racing and her anger urging her to escape from being arm-locked by the two, her enraged mind unleashed only a bit of her close-combat knowledge upon Fenna, forcefully bashing her elbow into Fenna's solar plexus, followed by a painful knee-kick upon Orelis as well. Able to free herself, Hailynn swayed away from the two and suddenly pulled her sidearm. Fenna coughed several times as she tried to breath while Orelis turned himself towards Hailynn, who at first aimed at him, then at others who dared to move!

At the same time, a frightened being ran along the long hallway. Tears of the girl were spread over her face. Several times had she bumped into people among the corridors and tripped. But with the last stumbling, she suddenly fainted.

"Traitors - All of you -!" she shouted hysterically and swayed her aim between several groups. Slowly slipping further along the edge of the bridge, Hailynn felt more and more cornered, "Why are ALL of you against me! Why – WHY is everybody attacking me! WHY - WHY!"

For the next few moments, Hailynn mindlessly shouted and argued at the crew. Her face was red and some were even able to detect veins appearing upon the side of her forehead. Aiming the handgun at one of the operatives, her gibberish arguing suddenly starting to slow down...

"No one is ever on my side! Never..." her speech suddenly slurred.

With her field of view starting to become blurry, Hailynn unexpectedly swayed backwards until her back met the side of the bridge. She was losing balance. Throwing her left hand upon the side of her forehead, she felt the pain nailing her head. Feeling a provoking urge of her body, she used her free but shaking hand to grab the small cartridge containing the drugs and inhibitor pills.... but before she could open it, the cartridge fell upon the floor. Unable to breath correctly, the once gone-mad woman slowly slid downwards, just as she discovered nosebleed with her left hand. Looking up upon the others that stared at her, Hailynn was lost in mind, disorientated and stunned... As a result, the handgun slipped from hand.

"Wha-... what's going on... what have I... done..." With the last words slurring from her mouth, Hailynn collapsed among the eyes of the others, soon to begin shaking - She was suffering some sort of seizure!

Finally recovering from the recent hit, Orelis pulled himself upwards, barely managing to grab his comm-unit, "Security *cough* and medics to the bridge! ASAP!"

The Captain sat down upon his seat again. He was indeed angered by the recent events. With others unclipping their seat harnesses, both they and Orelis immediately made their way to Hailynn. One of the operatives kicked the gun aside that was soon picked up by Orelis. Examining it, he shook his head several times, "Damn... Hailey... You wanted to kill us?" he quietly remarked as he disarmed and secured it.

Hailynn continued to twitch and cough on the deck.

Making a short look at Fenna, he swiftly made his way to her as she managed to lean her back upon the backside of the seat of the navigation station, "Frell, Fenna – Are you okay – you alright?" he asked several times and laid his hand upon her shoulder. The young ensign shook her head as she coughed several times.

"No no – don't breath too fast, slow down – slow down..."

Though it was painful and strenuous, Fenna began to do as Orelis advised her to do.

"I thought – I thought I was going to die..." she panted.

"That was a nasty blow Hailey gave you, Fen..." he said back to her as he saw the other people picking Hailynn up, "I totally forgot that one rule..."

"Huh?" Fenna coughed.

"Never mess with a marine, especially ex-marines..." he said, revealing that he greatly underestimated Hailynn's abilities and shook his head.

Not a moment too soon, a group of marines and a pair of medics entered the rear bridge section. With the other operatives pointing them where to go, the marines immediately dashed ahead, weapons aimed first as they moved ahead, followed by the medics. As they reached the Captain from behind, he raised his hand towards them and remarked, "Stand-down weapons."

"Sir? What happened?" the supervisory marine hastened to ask as he signaled his men to lower their weapons.

"A situation has developed but cleared itself before you appeared, men. Medics, Take Commander Delixa immediately to sickbay and have her under custody. I want guards to be posted in the sickbay area. Do not let her leave the bay until further notice."

"By your command, Captain – but, I do not understand. It is _Commander_ Delixa, sir."

"You have your orders."

"Yes sir."

""Petty Officer Gallant to bridge. I have discovered the _Kadeshi __operative_ who seemed to have collapsed right here at executive deck, corridor... F-7... She doesn't look well, bridge. I-I need – Err - Requesting immediate medical support to this section!""

Focusing his view at Orelis, the Captain gave him the signal to respond.

""This is bridge, P-O. Medics will help you out ASAP. But until then, please carry the girl over to sickbay or the nearest medical team. Keep the commline open as we coordinate the team to your location.""

""Yeah - Alright...""  
Giving the orders to the others, Orelis delegated the task to be coordinated by one of the operatives of the bridge. One of the medics wanted to check him and Fenna up, but both denied and said that they were recovering. Spotting the marines picking the unconscious and slightly blood-smeared commander from the floor, Orelis discovered the cartridge on the floor. Shaking and opening it, he found several differently colored pills within. For sure, he recognized the inhibitor pill - that one dreaded pill he never insisted to take on duty again - and threw it back into the cartridge.

"Hey - hey," he said behind the group that made their way out. With one of the medics turning around, Orelis gently tossed the cartridge over to the man, "Hey, you better check that stuff. I don't know but I think she was about to take one of those..."

"Alright. Will do."

"Thanks..."

Meanwhile, both observatory operatives continued their research. Although both of them were shocked by the recent events, they did seem worried of what the Kadeshi girl mentioned before she was physically harassed. If what the girl said happened to be true, then she really did not have much of a choice at all. For now, they both did not care who was the being that led her and the _Vjel-Amaj _to this position. Maintaining the research, both operated their consoles with swiftness. While Quan checked the telemetry data, Kenta began to see something disturbing as she examined the observatory scan protocols. Observing separate images, she was not sure if they were all equal. Each image revealed the patch of stars from different time intervals, specifically those when they first discovered the patch and the hours beyond. But what actually confused her was the image that Aira programmed at first, followed by several other ones that could not be complied by navigation. Kenta needed professional help, somebody who had more knowledge over astronomy.

Raising herself slightly away from the console, she grabbed her comm-unit and called, "Kenta to Dr. Pethera."

Making a surprised look, Quan turned his view upon her, "Err, why you calling _her_?"

"Not quite sure about something, but we need help – Here, check these for -"

Responding to Kenta's call, Pethera's voice recalled over the comm-line, ""Dr. Pethera S'Jet here. What is it?""  
"Ehm, yes, Kenta here. Dr. Pethera, we are in need of your _professional_ knowledge, ma'am. We have discovered something upon the scan and telemetry data protocols, but are not sure what it is."

""I understand. But I won't be coming to the bridge, Ms. Kenta. Not with that _Delixa_ woman wanting to do her _duty,_"" there was a tone of annoyance and disgust as the voice replied.

"Ma'am. We've have a _situation_ up here that required her to be... _removed_ from duty and arrested until further notice. I assure you that she will not be around during your presence."

""I am actually _busy_ – but now that you have mentioned Delixa not being around, I'd like to know why. I would drop everything what I am doing right now if you were to tell me what exactly happened to her once I get to you.""

Quan made a strange look at Kenta, who shook her head. No-one needed to say that Pethera hated Hailynn deeply. Obviously, she wanted to know every detail of Hailynn's embarrassing misfortune.

"A-As you wish, Dr. Pethera..."

""That is a deal. See you soon. Pethera, over and out.""

"Man, that woman is crazy..." Quan remarked and turned himself away.

"You bet..."

Just as things were calming down, Quan suddenly discovered something upon the screen of his console, soon to be noticed by Kenta as well. Kelsea, one of the communication operatives, began to detect something as well.

"Captain, I am picking up a contact... No wait – It's a... signal?"  
"Strange," Kelsea added, "I am hearing something as well."

"Aww man," Orelis sighed, "Will this madness ever end? Feel like we're in some cheap novel..."

"Please explain," the Captain demanded.

"Yes, sir – but I am not really able to tell what this signal is. Without any detailed information fed through sensory, I am not capable to offer much to explain."

Quan took over as she ended her speech, "The density outside is too high for our common observatory sensors to penetrate. The recalibration for conventional surveillance is still underway in order to raise our visibility range – but other than that, we are still blind."  
"Huh – what...?" Kelsea said, as she eavesdropped into her headset, "-S-Sir. There is a... voice speaking, but its quality is miserable."

"So we drop out of hyperspace and soon have somebody calling out for us? This is strange, if you ask me, Captain – Maybe there is some truth to Aira's words after all?" Orelis remarked, giving his opinion.  
"I do not assume this is some Vaygr trap either, sir," Quan mentioned, "Operative Aira did mention that she had spoken to some... _unbound_ being or something. I do not know what she meant but she said it was some woman who... _brought_ us here..."

"I am getting a better focus on the signal," Kenta said as she pressed several keys upon her sophisticated console. Aligning her instruments and the receiver systems to the signal's bandwidth, she began to understand what the signal truly was – to her surprise. She hesitated several times as she spoke, "It's not just any small signal, sir... It's some kind of... beacon emitting a... guidance signal to our position... if I am understanding this right..."

The operatives who gave their report paused shortly. They were slightly confused of this discovery. Furthermore, they were a lost in what to say next since they did not receive any superior sensorial data from Aira's station. One could of course man that station but he or she would be greatly limited considering the capability to detect anything beyond the conventional sensor reach, due to fact that nobody else was able to mentally connect to the interface like Aira.

"Guidance signal? Wait a minute. Are you saying this some kind of _guideline_? One of those used to guide ships for... docking?" Orelis concluded, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir."

"Captain, this is going too fast! With all needed respect, but I think even Hailynn would take this for a trap, sir. I suggest to not follow that signal – We have fallen for too many surprises ever since our first entry into this system. This is too much of a mystery," the deck officer said to his captain and crossed his arms.

"This may sound irrational to all of you," the Captain explained, "However, I am willing to investigate this signal. Operative Aira brought us here with the intention to help us further in our task. She may be a young and naive girl, but I do trust her. If it is true what she said before, then we should not avoid this signal. With our ship's FTL being crippled until our engineers manage to repair the hyperdrive, we are actually in need of support and a safe haven."

"But Captain – Our ship is concealed by the shroud or field we are in. I do not intend to deny your decision, sir, but I do have concerns if this is safe... To be honest, there were some things true about what Commander Hailynn said and -"

"Officer Orelis. Please ignore and do not mention Commander Delixa's words. Your concerns are known to me, but I insist the ship investigates."

"But – yes, sir."

Hearing another signal coming in, both of the commanding officers turned their view over to to communication operative Kelsea Amaj, who again eavesdropped into her headset.

"Report," the Captain demanded again.

"Aye, sir. It's another comm-signal – but it is not originating from the beacon signal, sir. It's a ...communication request originating our ship."

"Our ship? Details."

"It's coming from one of our... cargo bays?" the woman said and made a startled face.

"Whoever it is, patch the signal through to us, Kelsea," Orelis commanded.

"Aye – patching through," she said and did as told. Fulfilling her task by setting the comm-line upon all speakers, she called, "Attention... unidentified signal – This is the bridge of the _Vjel-Amaj_..."

Within the next moment, a very familiar deep voice replied, ""This is Vaygr fighter - Callsign... 'Ray'. I apologize for breaking silence, Amaji Command, but my fighter is still maintained within the junction between your cargo decks. Are there any further orders? Over.""

Kelsea slapped the side of her forehead as she threw her back upon the seat and blushed, "Oh my gods, I-I... I totally forgot about him. Captain, I apologize – but I f-fu-forgot to maintain his transfer to the cargo deck... It all happened so sudden with the hyperjump that I -"

"It is alright. It is to him you need to apologize, but you may do this later. I think we should dispatch our Vaygr ally one more time."

"Sir?" Orelis asked, "I do not understand."

"Remember, officer, the Vaygr's fighter possesses better surveillance and sensors than we currently can offer due to the absence of our sensory operative..."

"As a scout I assume. Well, since you order was to investigate the signal, we might as well have this...'Ray'... on the lead."

"Exactly. Operative Kelsea. Please forward my orders to him and have his comm-line kept open. Please explain our situation and ask him if he is willing to support our intentions."

"Ah – Y-Yes, Captain. 'Ray', this is bridge. Umm, yes, Vaygr fighter, we do require your support one more time. The Captain would like to know if you are willing to be dispatched once more. Our ship has emerged within a dense shroud and are incapable of surveying our surroundings and heading and would require your guidance to a beacon signal emitting from a certain angle."

""Confirmed, Amaji Command,"" the deep voice accepted.

"Kelsea, what is his status – Is he alright? That was a tough fight they had to put with... you know..."

She nodded and added, "Vaygr. What is your status? Are you in good condition to be dispatched? Over."

""I am undamaged.""

"But – do you – need to rest? Are you exhausted, hungry – a-anything I can... do for you?"

""I am Vaygr, Hiigaran woman. I am not in the need of.. _anything_. Command, I am ready to be dispatched. Opening the upper gateway would allow my fighter to be dispatched.""

Kelsea sighed. She felt very guilty for forgetting this man in the darkness.

"Commence the dispatch of the Vaygr fighter," the Captain said and looked over to the only helmsman available at the fore section of the bridge.

"Ensign Fenna?" he called to the young navigator woman, "I apologize, but I am afraid I cannot relieve you from duty. You are currently the only person capable of navigating the ship to our destination."

With the Captain calling her from far behind, Fenna rubbed her chest several times. It still ached from that elbow attack. Though she still suffered from its pain and felt nervous, she turned around and said, "I'm alright – sir. I understand and will man my station..."

"Thank you, Ensign. Your efforts are registered."

Climbing back into the seat of the sophisticated navigation station, Fenna settled herself and pressed the key that caused the seat to automatically move back closer to all controls and consoles. Though she was exhausted for being so long on duty, she knew she was needed – here and now. Again, Fenna rubbed her aching chest as she thought of Hailynn...

"N-Navigation – online," she stuttered.

Feeling a short rumble, Kelsea shortly reported, "Vaygr fi- I mean, 'Ray' has been dispatched."

Checking all possible survey methods, all screens showing all frontal arcs revealed a thick wall of gas. Soon, she discovered movement among the frontal region of the ship along with a green circle appearing and disappearing frequently.

"Vaygr fighter," Kenta called out, "Are you able to detect the guidance signal?"

""Affirmative. My sensors are not fully capable of penetration but they are sensitive enough to detect the origination of the signal you seek.""

"Vaygr fighter," Fenna now transmitted, "I have locked navigation to your fighter. Maintain a steady distance around 300 meters so the ship can follow you. Please try to stay as visible as possible."

"Engage engines," the Captain commanded.

**- Relict of the past –**

During the next forty minutes, the _Vjel-Amaj_ carefully followed the small Vaygr fighter as it led the way to the mysterious signal. Slowly piercing through the thick cloud, the vessel, whose hull still possessed chucks of ice, cruised ahead. Many among the bridge's crew were worried due to the events that occurred a long while ago. Breaking the silence, Ray's deep voice suddenly spoke, gaining the attention of everybody, ""Hiigaran cruiser. Please stop your advance.""

"Disengage all engines – Full stop," the Captain demanded. Doing as ordered, Fenna pulled both grip controls to a certain level, causing the ship to automatically slow down.

""Kelsea here. What is wrong, 'Ray'?""

""Hiigarans. I have - visual contact - with the origination of the signal. The density of this region is a lot lower. The border is approximately 200 meters away from your position."", Ray's slightly distorted voice recalled over the comm-line, ""Amaji Command. This vessel appears to be something _beyond_ our expectations.""

""Please explain.""

""I am unable to identify the origins of this ship. However, it appears to be a gigantic vessel - Not far from this position. But that is not all, Hiigaran cruiser. My sensors are detecting many more ships surrounding the largest vessel – The minor ships do not seem to be active. Command, I suggest to move your ship to my position in order to see all of this."" 

Shocked by his words, many threw their view ahead to the main screen as they heard his visual reporting.

"Ensign Fenna," the Captain called out to her, "'Steady as she goes'."

Doing as he commanded, Fenna caused the whole ship to retain a slow approach to the desired position. With each meter, nearly every crewmember of the bridge began to become anxious. Needless to say, Fenna herself was very nervous as the nose of the ship slowly pierced through the layer of dense gas. As the last cloud of gas spread away from their way, they finally could see ahead with their own eyes. Excluding the Captain, the rest of the crew reacted with astonishment. Able to see further their eyes discovered the gigantic vessel. Its size was so vast, that the _Vjel-Amaj_ itself was rather a minority, just alike the ships that silently floated next to it. Taking a sharper look, it seemed that these ships were engulfed in a less denser sphere, a less cloudy bubble as some would describe, having the gigantic vessel as its center point. There were so many things and objects floating among the area, but the _Vjel-Amaj _was still too far away to identify them.

"By Sajuuk..." Orelis said as he approached the main screen, then turned around to the others, "Where... are we?"

Lifting himself up as well, the Captain began to approach the main screen as well. His eyes focused on the gigantic vessel and one of the many other ships.

"C-Captain? Is something wrong? You look like you are seeing a... ghost, sir..."

"Not quite, Officer Orelis. I must concur - I am surprised. But that vessel we can see ahead... is a Mothership-Class vessel – but not just any Mothership..." he said and moved further ahead.

"Sir?"

Everybody focused their view upon their superior officer, who turned himself around to the majority of them, anxiously waiting for what he wanted to say. They all stared upon him, many of them not reacting to internal communication speeches...

"Fellow Hiigarans – Vaygr fighter. This discovery is unbelievable - We have stumbled upon something of the past. I recognize that mothership vessel... The ship we can see here is of... _Imperial Taiidani_ origin..."


	11. Chapter 11 Intentions

Idling at the very edge of the inner sphere, the surviving but halfway frozen and weary Amaji cruiser and its guiding ally remain where they are, staring at the discovery of the ancient but seemingly dead fleet. With their both sensors and eyes capable of penetrating this rather low-density bubble of gas, it is the astonishment that holds these wayfarers from proceeding. Sunlight is barely piercing its way through the enveloping field of denser gas, causing the ancient Mothership to throw a threatening shadow among most of its surroundings. Though all eyes are aware of the hostile appearance, a single star among the dead shadow of Mothership's hull continuously blinks, constantly emitting weak but welcoming signals...

**Chapter 11 – Intentions...**

The Captain turned himself to the crew again after staring a long while upon the Imperial Taiidan Mothership centered very far ahead in a field of debris and derelict objects. Observing almost all fellow crewmembers of the bridge, he did understand the fear and hesitation of all. This star system was filled so many dark secrets, mysteries, treasures and dangers – and soon were they to stumble over the next one mystery. Albeit the Captain's mind remaining calm unlike those around him, many questions began to appear, foremost asking how it was possible to find this dead but ancient fleet.

"...An _Imperial_ ... Taiidan Mothership, sir? _Here_?", Orelis insisted to finally ask, breaking the overall silence of the bridge crew.

Turning himself once more to the main screen, the Captain arranged his uniform before replying, "Yes, Officer Orelis – all of you", he swung his view back to the rest of the crew, "- But there is a disturbing inconsistence according this... discovery. I am not sure if all of you are aware of what I am referring to."

Taking a short look at all crewmembers of the bridge, Orelis shortly examined the glances that looked back upon the two remaining commanding officers of the bridge. Though Orelis being _slightly _olderthan the absent Hailynn Delixa, it became clear that besides him, the Captain was the eldest – though not seemingly _old _- and most experienced of them all, needless to say that they were too young to know all of what the Captain was talking about.

"Fellow crewmembers.", the Captain began to explain, "According to the history of our culture, this ship – as said before – is the Mothership-class vessel of the extinct Taiidan Empire. During the year before Landfall, it was Emperor Riesstiu IV of the Taiidan Empire who was responsible for the _Kharakian Genocide _but failed in stopping our Kushan ancestors and young Karan S'Jet above Hiigara. History says his _unique_ flagship... the same vessel we can see ahead... was destroyed. Its remaining skeleton was used as the foundation for the scaffold shipyard and later expanded to become the orbital space station and shipyard platform embedded with the 'Pride of Kharak' as of today..."

Puzzled faces were soon to be seen among the crew.

"But... Captain...", Fenna's confused but scared voice sounded from the helm, "If the emperor's Mothership was destroyed by our ancestors... then..."

"I know, Ensign... I know. Why are we seeing an identical vessel in the middle of this system?"

"And who is this... _woman..._ the kadeshi girl was talking about – this _unfound_-whatever person?", one of the other male bridge operatives asked from far behind.

"Unbound. To what I know about such personas, is that both Karan S'Jet and Emperor Riesstiu IV are these so-called _unbound_ beings. I do not know the true definition or meaning for I am only a naval captain of the military. But as far as I am able to understand, these beings resemble those who are both physically and mentally connected to their ship. Best example would be the nature of the Bentusi. Aira, our youngest crewmember, is alike these people – However, without physical connection and her incapability to develop full potential, the girl never dares to call herself _unbound_. I remember her seeing this name as a 'title' of such."

"I wonder if she is alright...", Kelsea added, "I still do not understand why Commander Delixa reacted so roughly to the poor girl..."

""Excuse my interference, Amaji Command. Is Commander Delixa alright?"", Ray suddenly asked among the speakers.

"S-She's not alright right now, Ray. Something happened recently here at the bridge. Please maintain stand-by, over."

""Affirmative.skrrtch""

"Yeah, but she was not acting like this all along – I mean... She was okay until -", somebody else mentioned but was interrupted.

"Commander Delixa just became insane, that is all -", an operative among the bridge crew proclaimed, "I really wish I knew why she started to become that wild, but I guess she was just disappointed by -"

"Enough!", the Captain suddenly demanded loudly among the bridge, "I am aware about all of your concerns considering Commander Delixa, but we must face the fact that the Commander was needed to be removed from duty. We do not know why she reacted this serious but we must respect the fact that she is not here – No speculations, men and woman. I await sickbay to contact us soon. Whatever it may be, we must concentrate on our next decision..."

"Sir?", Orelis asked, wondering what were they to do, "I strongly advise not to proceed. We may be defenseless, but our ship would stand a better chance if we were to relocate to a denser dust cloud region. Engineering did mention it is capable of repairing the our hyperjump capabilities in a few days, sir."

"Hmm.", the Captain crossed his arms, "Your concerns do have a point."

Engineer Zann wove his hand, gaining the attention of both commanding officers, "Captain. Lieutenant Commander Orelis. There is an issue among the ship that is slowly growing larger. Despite our maintenance teams capable of subduing the issue of the hyperspace module within a few days, I must inform you that the overall environmental control systems have sustained damage. Decks 3 through 7 for instance have lost three degrees of temperature over the hour before and after the recent hyperjump. I apologize for not reporting this as urgent, but our recently planned retreat to Amaji territory would have cleared the situation, more or less."

"No need for apology. Are your teams capable of handling this problem as well?"

"Not quite, sir. We do not know how far the insufficiency has proceeded. The temperature drop would proceed over a very long period of time. The main problem is that the outlying environment systems among the hull have either suffered damage or certain relay connections are no longer responding. Due to this situation, we must face the fact that ship is imaginably _bleeding_ some of its life support. Evacuations to certain decks would buy us a lot more time, but I fear that we are not capable to support so many people tight among the remaining decks. Neither do we possess sufficient gear for all our guests."

The Captain rubbed his chin as he replied, "What would be the best for you and your team to clear this problem?"

Zann, though actually at first against the idea of approaching the gigantic vessel, came to the conclusion that there was not much of a choice, "Captain, I won't believe what I am about to suggest, but if we are to effectively repair and maintain the ship's damages, then we are in need of a shipyard or any _scaffold_ that could allow us to repair and seal any 'issues' among the ship. It was said before that that person or whoever called the girl said they could support our matters."

"Zann. I know you are talking serious, but now I'm starting to feel as paranoid as Hailynn recently...", Orelis firmly sneered ironically.

"Hmm. Comm'", the Captain called out, referring to Kelsea.

"Y-Yes sir?"

"Have you been able to establish a stable uplink to the vessel or the person who tried to hail us from before?"

"Negative, sir. Every now and then, I am able to pick up the voice speaking among several frequencies, but its quality is far below optimal levels. The transmission is just too garbled to understand. I can only guess that... Mothership... or whatever it really is must have all means of communication severely damaged."

"Sounds enough like a trap to me", Orelis again said from the side.

"And what if we were to dock onboard the Mothership, as Aira proposed?"

"Captain, I really advise not to. I know how some of those scientists onboard would enjoy going on some expedition through that derelict place. We should not be poking our curiosity around in an ancient taiidani vessel that is probably as old as a century, sir. The last thing we need is to stumble upon more trouble, for the sake of commander... sir."

"Only one thing, Officer", the Captain replied as he rose his hand shortly, "_That_ ship is not _derelict..._"

Receiving a short message, Kelsea's voice was heard as she talked into her headset, before turning around to report to the Captain, "...Yes... Alright, Doctor. I will inform the Captain immediately, bridge out. Captain. Dr. Jonan is calling from sickbay and requests you to meet him as soon as possible considering the case of Commander Delixa and the girl."

"Understood, Comm. Send him the confirmation that I am on my way."

"Yes, sir."

Moving again to the side of the Captain, Orelis spoke with a puzzled voice, "Uhm, sir?"

"Orelis. As you being Lieutenant Commander and due to the absence of my X-O, you will take over the charge as the X-O and commander of the bridge for the time being."

"Sir?"

"Since my presence is needed at sickbay, you will thus be the highest ranked as of the command structure. I want you to coordinate the approach to the Mothership. Relocate the 'Vjel-Amaj' to the beacon of that Mothership and execute dock procedures as Aira insisted. Maintain steady alert and have the ship ready for any needed retreat. Do you understand your task?"

Although Orelis was well known as being the third-in-command, he was none the less the least rank of the three commanding officer. His role Deck Officer has always been supportive to the Executive Officer...

"Well, sir, I'm not quite sure if this is a... good... idea, but I am willing to support it", Orelis sighed, "I will have the vaygr fighter pilot keep a watching eye around us."

"Very well. And remember. I know all of you are concerned about this taiidan vessel, but at this point we must trust Aira."

Dismissing from the bridge, the Captain exited without any following words. Throwing his view back upon the screen after seeing him leaving, Orelis stared at the mysterious Mothership very far ahead as shown on the main screen.

**- Drift -**

"Alright, you all heard the man. Let's get to it.", Orelis called out to everybody, "Our orders are clear. Obs, keep an eye on the lookout for any trouble, ok?"

"Sir, observatory is only a station for scientific and astronomical observation", Quan clarified, "We are indeed able to detect whatever may happen out there, but the task you are asking for is actually the job of the sensory station since it has more sensitivity. Besides, right now we are concentrating on getting the data together for Dr.Pethera who will be here soon."

Orelis threw his view up to the unmanned station.

"Well, we're going to need _somebody_ up there. This is probably the first time we are able to see anything so far ahead – but I think I know exactly who could take over that task...", the current executive officer mentioned and focused his view upon a certain operative. Feeling somebody touching her shoulder, Kelsea turned around as she noticed Orelis seeming to talk to her.

"You, man sensory."

"B-but sir? I'm a communication officer and -"

"-No buts, Kelsea. If we are to get to that beacon as soon as possible, then I don't want to waste anytime calling the next shift for the job. Besides, I know you have some sensor qualification and knowledge on how to maintain it. The other two operatives can take over your station in the meantime."

"Sir, I've only managed to reach class-eight at the academy. We have a class-two onboard who for sure is -"

Making that certain head movement again, he silently _demanded_ her to get going. She had to understand that he did not care about whatever excuse she had.

"Just – move it and keep your eyes peeled on any suspicious event while we fly our way to that friggin' ship."

"Bu... sigh Yes sir..."

Leaving the station, Kelsea took off her headset before lifting herself away from the station. Bypassing the temporary commander of the bridge, the young woman made herself up to the sensory station, soon to be enveloped by several layers of holographic images, symbols and spheres.

"And off shall we boldly go... venturing into the beast's mouth...", he quietly sung before focusing his view on the main screen, "Vaygr pilot, 'Ray'. Do you read me?"

""Yes, sir.""

"I assume you heard everything?"

""Confirmed.""

"Alright. We are going to engage cruise flight and approach that Mothership. If you see anything out there, let us know and we'll get the frakk out of here. No heroic gunfights or whatever – just stick close to us, copy?"

""Understood. Maintaining formation.""

Lastly, Orelis turned his head over to Fenna.

"Well, Ensign. Didn't expect you to stay so long on duty, but we have no other choice. Follow that guideline to the Mothership. Just keep it steady as she goes, alright?"

She shook but confirmed as she hid herself more into her seat. Seeming nervous, Fenna's hands trembled slightly as they approached the various numbers of controls. Immediately moving her left hand away, she anxiously corrected her choice. That was the wrong control to mess with. Fenna rubbed her strained eyes and sore chest a few times along with a suppressed yawn.

For being a trainee, the rather easy-sounding task proved to be a bit more confusing and difficult than she thought. Just fly straight ahead was the command, but it nonetheless still required certain knowledge to do this correctly. Adjusting her left hand upon a horizontal grip control that had several buttons around its frame, Fenna clipped and held a certain group of them before gently pushing this single but sophisticated thrust control unit. Using her right hand, she lastly pressed a few keys on the pad above her right side, causing the screen ahead to pinpoint the beacon signal of the Mothership. Needless to say, but she was a lazy and coward pilot... who was leaving the job for the autopilot. Pressing one last button, a computer voice shortly announced in her headset, "Autopilot.Engaged." – If Hailynn had known of her ever using the autopilot for such a task like this one, she would kill her – imaginable. "En-Engaging cruise flight to the beacon.", she announced loudly as the ship's thrusters were hardly felt. Feeling a bit more of tiredness in her eyes, she yawned and tried to stretch. Unfortunately, with all the controls, pads, consoles and several other sophisticated interface grip gears surrounding her, she was a bit cramped up. Fenna wanted to leave, but since Fenna deeply respected Hailynn's instructions and knowledge she shared to her as a novice student, this was the actual reason why she decided to remain at the helm.

Fenna needed something to keep her awake but she was sort of stuck here right now – however, there was something she could take after all. By instinct, her hand went beneath her jacket, soon to pull out a familiar cartridge filled pills. She suddenly paused and looked upon this filled capsule that immediately reminded her of Hailynn. The inexperienced navigator used to take these pills now and then, but ever since the events and health issue of Hailynn, her hand curled the cartridge and pushed it back into her jacket. Surprisingly, just the looks upon the dreaded pills reminded her how drugged Hailynn must have been to react so aggressively, shocking Fenna from even consuming a single one. The sudden awareness was so powerful that her mind managed to suppress the fatigue – at least it seemed so until she gave another yawn again.

This was it. All they had to do now was to wait and see what -

Disturbed by the sound of two opening doors at the same time from behind, Orelis turned around and discovered that not only one but two women entered the bridge... and he was not really _happy_ to see them both at all...

He needed to rub his eyes. Taking over full command now was the least Orelis had to worry about. Again, he threw another sigh as he looked at first to left at the foot of the sensory station, spotting the manaani colonel whipping her hair behind her shoulders as she made the first step ahead. Another pilot accompanied her. Gazing over to the right of the sensory station and the second access entrance of the bridge, Orelis discovered the _expected_ visit of the s'jet scientist woman whom Hailynn hated, humiliated and _verbally_ harassed very long ago. With both women approaching the center of the bridge and not knowing of each other's presence, Orelis began to fear the upcoming clash of mentalities... to his annoyance.

_Hoo boy_...

"Heeeey...!", the dark-skinned manaani pilot sounded loudly as she approached the two operatives at the main communication station, "Who tha frell of you were responsible for forgettin' Ray in that junction segment...?! And don't think yer gettin' away with it, I know one of you is responsible!"

Kaydaana did not even greet Orelis. Her blind ambition even caused her not to notice Pethera. Obviously, she was here for a far different... _important_ matter. Both of the operatives clenched their teeth as they were surprised by the woman's sudden appearance.

"Well – c'mon! Don't make me interrogate you two!"

_Frakk_... Kelsea's voice silently squealed and hid her head slightly, hoping the blue holosphere would camouflage her as she raised its intensity and number of layers by opening more images... but unfortunately all was for nothing due to both of the men pointing upwards simultaneously, guiding the verbal barrage of fury to the certain person also known as their superior officer above.

"Wha- up there?", the furious woman said, looked up and then began to shout, "That... ain't Aira... up theeere – hey! Don't ya try hidin'! Ah, Kelsea – has tah be you! So YER the one who left Ray hanging out in that dark junction for ages, huh?!"

_Damn you traitors_!, Kelsea's thoughts shouted, _You'll pay for that_!.

"Hey, stop hidin' and get yer ass down here now!", Kaydaana shouted upwards and formed a fist.

Kelsea continued to hide her face from looking down as Kaydaana blabbered further, cursing at the intimidated communication officer about the dangerous flight she had and _how much_ she was looking forward to seeing the vaygr man. Kelsea knew she was guilty, but she feared to even look down at her. The shouting continued.

Orelis could not believe that these adults, officers of the Kiith Amaj, were acting so juvenile. This flight was going to be a long one. But just as he was about to intervene with these _children_, Kaydaana suddenly discovered Dr. Pethera and immediately pointed her hand at her, "Hey – What the frakk are YOU doin' here?!"

"Officer Orelis", Pethera said to him, ignoring the loud woman, "Why don't you remove this loud-mouthed _preckbird_ from the bridge?"

"Well -", he said, but was interrupted... _of course_.

"Preck...BIRD?!", Kaydaana accented voice echoed, obviously deeply insulted by the name of a very famous, annoying and loud squawking bird of Hiigara, "How about I smack _you_ instead of Kelsea, FOOL?!"

"Don't dare me, manaani preck. I know how to put up with your lousy type. Anyways... Don't you have anything _else_ to wear? I understand us superiors needing to wear the uniform –but ever since we left Amaj-space, I've seen you only that same flight gear all along. Smelly girl should take a bath now instead of disturbing us here at the bridge", the female scientist softly replied with a drought sigh in her voice. As the words left Pethera's mouth, short-lived giggles were heard among the group of operatives throughout the bridge – but suddenly went silent and turned away as Kaydaana's eyes scanned for those who quietly laughed.

The verbal insults of Pethera obviously were well-thought through. She was doing 'psychological warfare' on Kaydaana, knowing that this green eyed woman was fond to being insulted easily. Unfortunately, Pethera underestimated Kaydaana and her ego. The insulting dialogs continued.

"Shad-dup, Pethera! Yah have no frakkin' idea how much crap we all had to go through! – And all I wanna know is where Ray is! Right here – right now!"

"Ray? Who's Ray?", Pethera asked.

"Stupid s'jet. Ray, the vaygr... The one who -!"

"- Ah yes, yes. Him. Whatever."

"How 'bout we clear this here and now!", Kaydaana snarled.

"Err, K-K-Kaydaana – Mr.Ray is -", Kelsea insisted to clarify, but was immediately shouted back at by Kaydaana.

"Shad-dup, Kelsea! Yer next on the line"

"You manaani precks always have been on the loose. Your childish attitude is a shame for all other kiithid and honor of this ship. You are just as worthless as Commander Delixa..."

Moving between the two, Orelis had to do something now before more blood was to be spilled on floor.

"Damn it, both of you! Knock it OFF!", he shouted and rose both of his arms signaling them to stay back. He actually needed to turn and use both hands to push Kaydaana away and back to the communication station whereas Pethera would quietly remain at the center of the bridge, obviously expecting the typical manaani reaction.

"What's the GODSDAMN problem with you two?!" , he shouted at the two and among the bridge, "We've been through ENOUGH trouble surviving the frell in that comet and now I have to mess around with little girls wanting to beat each other up – on an amaji cruiser?! This is madness...! We end up finding this frakking imperial taiidan mothership in the middle of NOWHERE, the Commander gets arrested, I get in charge of everything and now little girls want to fight?! Why the hell does all this crap happen when the Captain is not on deck?! As soon as a manaan and s'jet get into place, everything goes whack!"

Everybody stared Orelis...

"Speaking of commanderrr...", Kaydaana slowly spoke, "Wait... Imperial...?"

"... taiidan...?", Pethera continued

"Motha-ship, huh? Whadda-ya talkin' about? And what the frell did ya say about Hailey? Why the frell was she arrested?! Why is Kelsea up THERE and not Aira?! Where's Aira?! W-Where's the Captain and...".

Suddenly, Kaydaana's green eyes widened as she discovered something familiar drifting among the side of the main screen. Walking ahead, she pushed Orelis slightly to the side as she slowly approached the screen and stopped next to him.

"And - oh my gods!", the manaani woman shouted more loud than ever and pointed at the screen, "Why is Ray out there?!"

"Damn it, that DOES IT!", Orelis barked, "You there, Corporal Nizenn!", he said, pointing at the male pilot who came with the woman, "Get that woman _off_ my bridge, NOW!"

"Wha- _Your_ bridge?! Hey, on whose side are you, Orelis! No waaay!"

"Shut up, colonel! I've had it with the frakking fooling around! This is the bridge and not some mercenary bar at Skyguard Station!"

"Ya doin' such as a mistake, Orelis! And – hey, I'm Kaydaana! Lieutenant Colonel of the proud Manaan! I'm a higher rank than ya!"

"Not for now, Kaydaana! I'm the X-O of the Captain for now!"

"Huh?! No way! Hailey is the X-O!"

Pethera smiled. She seemed to enjoy all this...

"Not for now, damn it! She's at sickbay! Your presence is no longer tolerated here! Get her out of the bridge now, corporal, move it!"

The corporal, who understood the order, walked ahead and grabbed the arm of manaani woman and pulled slightly... Hesitating to actually pull her arm further, it was needless to say that Kaydaana's wild heart was about to unleash its fury upon him.

"Don't even think about resisting, Kaydaana – Make me report this acting up to the Captain and you're rank is screwed!"

Using the distraction of Orelis' threat, the corporal curled both of his arms around Kaydaana's shoulders, pulling the woman away from the center of the bridge. She did fight all right, but it was easy to see that her pride was bruised. Yet, the best idea the corporal had was to use his size by lifting the wild woman up and carry her away. Despite the woman being furious, she was not strong or smart enough to actually free her self and it did take a lot of effort to force her through the entry door of the bridge at the end. Arguing was heard behind the door, easy to hear that she now verbally fought with the poor corporal, obviously complaining why he carried her out and humiliating her in front of the whole bridge. Nonetheless, he did it for the sake of her career...

Giving a relieving sigh, Orelis' hand went through his hair and face. Despite finally getting rid of the irritation and gaining a piece of mind, he was a bit surprised of standing his ground against a higher ranked officer – not to mention – THE manaani hothead. A few others were impressed as well. He turned away to the main screen, ignored the faces of the others and thought of his words. What he said did make sense – but what actually surprised him was that his words and reaction were alike Hailynn's before. So much trouble and madness happened every since they entered this dreaded star system... and soon was it to continue as the ship approached the imperial taiidan mothership. All of this was getting confusing.

"My. My.", Pethera's soft but proud and slightly victorious voice suddenly said behind him, not noticing that she approached him, "I am impressed in how you handled that preck-woman, officer... or should I say: _Commander_ Orelis? Those fighter women always are like this – but you better be careful with that remark of yours. Fighting back actually the manaani way arouse – or even compliment a manaani woman at the end – Well – I am not sure about that since that vaygr-whoever seems to be her interest. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to working with you and -"

Orelis turned around with an annoyed face that caused her to stop speaking. He began to speak, but soon slowly began to become more aggravated as he explained:

"Listen, s'jet. I don't care what you want. I'm just a commanding officer on duty who happens to be in command for the time during the absence of the Captain and the Commander. I'm tired, I'm annoyed and I'm not in the mood to put up with anything ELSE! I don't like this star system... I don't like those frakking miners! I DON'T like your mining corporation! I DON'T like this operation – and most of ALL, I DON'T LIKE YOU! SO, do whatever you have to _negotiate_ here at the bridge and leave me ALONE!"

Pethera made a sudden step back.

It seemed as if she misunderstood his standings to her and the manaani colonel. There it was again, that twitching at the side of her eye. It was not as strong as the first time when Hailynn intimidated her, but it was more the overwhelming surprise that she had to understand that Orelis took no side. He did not care about anything, but he did take his duty as an officer serious. Nearly all operatives watched this entire event with great awareness – many of them looking forward to gossiping with others at the messhall. Especially her reaction and eye twitching was what caught the attention of all bystanders and observers. They easily guessed that he said something to her somehow _hurt_ her... It seemed that his words did affect her deeply and emotionally. It took several moments as she looked up at him and down again and again, her eyes shyly moved back and forth. Orelis did not return the view but remained focused on the main screen with his arms crossed. The once seemingly strong s'jet woman silently accepted his words, nodded and slowly made her way to the operatives of the observatory station.

"And no word to the Captain about this event. That's an order."  
Orelis shook his head as his eyes stared upon the spot where Hailynn collapsed, discovering the very small dried crimson stain left behind.

_Damn it, Hailey... Now I know why you reacted like this..._

**- Bad Medicine –**

Receiving greeting salutes by the guarding marines of the sickbay, the highly ranked officer passed through the doors and remained at the entrance lobby. Observing the large sickbay area, the man discovered several vaygr and hiigaran people being treated by the medical staff. The situation seemed normal. Nobody was hasting or rushing. It was again remarkable for him to see both hiigarans and vaygr in the same room. They spoke to each other. He could not understand them as they spoke on due to him being far away and the overlaying noise of other conversations.

Noticing the waiting officer, one of the subordinates of the medical staff greeted, "Oh, hello, Captain! I apologize. I did not see you coming in, sir.", who then gave a nervous salute.

"Pride. At ease, assistant. No need to salute. I seek Dr. Jonan. Do you know where I can find him."

"Oh, yes sir. I will call him over to you. I am not sure where he exactly is since we all are a bit in stress."

"Is there any trouble? Do you require more capacity or helpers?"

"Err, no sir, nothing bad – Just happen to have many who need to be treated. We are able to handle it. Everything is going fine with our... _guests_... I have to admit I was surprised and did have my grudges, but I'm getting along with them. What surprises me is that they have a strange sense of humor, sir."

"Good to know."

"Yes. Heh. Anyways – Let me get the doctor to you."

Nodding to his suggestion, the medical assistant moved along and disappeared around the corner. It was good to know that at least there was no trouble among these lower decks. However, he did sense the slightly cooler room temperature than other decks. Hearing a familiar voice from the other side of the lobby, Dr. Jonan greeted, "Ah, greetings, Captain. Glad you made it so soon."

"My pleasure. I apologize for my sudden questioning, but how are the _two_?"

"Heh, always direct. No problem, sir. Follow me."

Joining the side of the doctor, they both walked along the medical segments filled with several patients being treated by the staff.

"Everything is going fine so far. It's been quite rough during the last hours. I was very glad I did not have to conduct any operations during that time. Before I begin my report, may I ask what caused so much turbulence back then?"

"During the command of Commander Delixa, she flew the ship into a comet's tail due to the circumstance of a vaygr battleship pursuing us. I was not present at the bridge but I can assure you that she and all others onboard were in great stress."

"A comet? That explains much..."

"Delixa's plan did manage to save us - barely – but due to the girl's intervening, we hyperjumped to the vicinity of an ancient imperial taiidan instead of returning to Amaji space. Soon after, that was the cause medical emergency of the two."

"I see. You will have to explain me more about what actually happened, but let me proceed with the medical report."

Both men continued further, leaving the more active area.

"We brought them over here since it is more quiet. No trouble at all with the refugees, but both, the woman and the girl, needed rest."

Entering the distinct and darkened medical segment, the Captain discovered Hailynn resting unconsciously on a medical bed covered by a blanket. The air was cool and had the usual medical smell as at the lobby. Hailynn was in deep sleep. Her hair was messed up but at least her nose was clean from blood. All in all, it seemed as if she really needed this sleep... really badly. Her mouth was slightly open as she took deep and slow breaths, only hinting that she was very exhausted. Slightly fast vital signs were heard among the displays of her med-bed. Several infusion tubes and their needles were injected among the end of her arms, each flowing different fluids.

Noticing differently phased periodic tones, the Captain turned his head and discovered the kadeshi girl sleeping as well upon a med-bed. Though it was hard to see due to the dimmed blue lights of the section, he was able to see a darkened area upon the side of her cheek – evidently the swollen bruise.

Clearing his voice, Dr. Jonan began to explain the medical report of the two:

"Let us start with the Commander, shall we. I was not sure why all this happened but the supporting operatives said to have both of the patients to be separated from each other. Since they were on duty and since that I needed space for my staff, I was not able to ask them the whole story – I only know part of it. Anyways, this is medical report of Hailynn Delixa."

"What happened to her?"

"Sir. To understand the cause for Delixa's outburst, you must know that the Commander was in need of medical support before she returned to the bridge back then. Do you remember?"

"Yes. She needed a lot of time to report back."

"It was a bit of my fault, Captain. Despite all my attempts in stopping her, her stubbornness ignored my request. I demanded her to leave from duty, but failed. I gave her a temporary treatment, but as seen, it did not hold for long. I am glad she managed to get us out of trouble but she really needed to report here."

"You sound as if that is only half of the cause, doctor."

The doctor took another deep breath before presenting a small cartridge filled with several different pills.

"And this is the other _half_. "

"'Inhibitor pills'?"

"Not just, Captain. One color is the inhibitor pill, the other one is a bad mix of awareness enhancers, nerve stimulants and cortisine III... Sir, she is very lucky she did not die of an overdose."

"I do not understand clearly. The Commander is very responsible person."

"Yes, sir. She is. But she is a responsible person with heavy deeds, responsibilities and burdens as of being the superior Commander of the ship, sir. She takes her duty as your right hand very seriously, but to be able to withstand all of the stress, she began using inhibitor pills. Throughout the three months of her command onboard this ship, she began to prescribe the other pills probably from elsewhere. I am not sure how I was not able to detect this issue earlier. It must have begun after the last full physical check-up. Nonetheless, Captain, she is mortal kushan like all of us. It was only until that time where I discovered her in need where I diagnosed drug addition."

"Addiction... hmm, with so many pills in action. I am not surprised."

"nods Not just that, sir. Each pill has its effect but also health endangering side effects and adverse reactions. When we checked her blood values when she was brought here, we discovered an alarming high value of cortisol and adrenaline, for sure caused by the cortisine mixture in those pills – and of course we discovered the other drug components as well. According to my first diagnosis back then, Delixa suffered nausea due to the consuming of the pills and intensive caffeine. The inhibitor pills, as it names says, alters the function of certain the body's organs, mainly the digestive system so that it is not required to request leave in inappropriate times. The side effect there was that her stomach of course receded certain function and caused food poisoning. That was when Ensign Fenna Amaj and I discovered her at the restrooms vomiting the poisoned remains. Fenna willed to keep Hailynn's addiction confidential. As she left us during our conversation, she took another dose of pills due to the upcoming burden of her saving the ship from being destroyed – I do not know exactly. She must have suffered weariness and took the pills to fight against it. Despite the use of inhibitor pills, the main cause for her collapse was the effects of the cortisine, enhancers and nerve stimulants. Her pulse rate must have been over the hundreds for a very long time and her blood pressure at a dangerously high value, which would explain the sudden nose bleed. But there is one thing I do not understand, Captain. We were in safety and she suffered this heavily at the end? – I would understand her rates over the top, but that does not explain it all."

"Commander Delixa was _very_ disappointed after the discovery of our ship still positioned within this shrouded system due to Aira's cause. Delixa's emotions became so out of control that she began to harass the crew. She let her fury among the crewmen who tried to hold her back and upon the girl, doctor. Fenna suffered an elbow blow to the chest and Orelis a knee-kick into the groan while she freed herself. She drew her sidearm and threatened to shoot anybody who wanted to get close to her. Before her collapse and during the nosebleed, that was when she shortly came back to herself – disorientated and not aware of what recently happened."

Dropping his arms, the doctor continued his speech, "Captain. This may be hard to understand, but you must be aware that the cause of her reaction was not intentional. It was caused by the cortisine – Eh, Yes – I understand her aggravation but due to the drugs, her mind just simply... blew. It was a 'domino effect' caused physically and mentally. As you know, cortisine is very powerful and vicious drug – and I am not even referring to when it is greatly misused. I am sure that she was not aware of its presence in the pill mixture. Nonetheless, the drug has several effects. It enhances the effect of the cortisol stress hormone by a dangerous factor, will keep ones body on full alert over several hours and will stimulate nerves to react faster than normal. nods several time with a worried smile Heh, the poor woman suffered a barrage of dangerous side effects and barely survived. She was at the very edge of cardiac arrest..."

"Will she awake soon from this recovery? What is the solution as therapy?"

"I doubt that Hailynn will be up so soon, sir. Despite her body needing the rest badly, it is actually still fighting with the remains of the drugs. The treatment we are giving her are actually counter-drugs. The saying 'Fight fire with fire... Fight poison with poison' received a whole new meaning when we started this. In other words, we are detoxing her with a harmless poison."

"Will she be free of this addiction?"

"Unfortunately. No sir. Drug therapy is something that even we as medics are not able to counter completely. We lack the equipment to fully cure her. But other than that, her body is addicted. She will be able to drop the consuming of inhibitor pills, but those are not the problem. From now on, we will prescribe these other capsules to her. She would mentally suffer greatly if she were to stop immediately – she needs to do this slow, very slowly. Captain, this is serious. Do not misunderstand me. Hailynn will still be able to fulfill her duty. She is a strong persona and I do trust her, nonetheless."

"I do not have the intention to remove her totally from duty, doctor. Her burdens as a commanding officer will not end now. It is not I to decide her future, but she must know that this will not be the end..."

"I see. Well then. That was a lot to report. We better leave her resting for now. Let me shortly report the health condition of our kadeshi crewmember."

"Very well."

Both walked across the section to the other side. Unlike Hailynn's wild vital life signs, Aira's life signs did have a different and inconstant rate. The girl rested as well upon the med-bed, deeply asleep.

"Alright. I will try to keep myself short on this one, Captain – but there is not much I was able to figure out."

"Explain."

"Well. She is kadeshi, sir. History chips may say they are of the same origin as of our kushan ancestors, but still are major differences. But let us start with the more obvious and visible injury."

Softly laying his hand upon her head, Dr. Jonan gently turned her head, to shortly show the swollen check, before he rested her head upon the pillow again.

"As you can see, the poor girl hurt herself badly. I cannot explain how this happened, sir. She must have run into something very hard or tripped. I don't know – but it sounds ridiculous if you ask me... Whatever happened to her, it knocked her out... big time."

"Doctor. Aira became a victim of Delixa's enrage. The girl received a _violent_ slap as punishment due to her insubordination of not leading the ship back to Amaji space. As you said before, the drugs must have caused her to lose control of her emotions."

"I see... and – What? A slap?"

"Yes."

Jonas made a puzzled face as he looked upon the girl.

"My gods, Sir. That must have been one _frell_ of a hit. Hailynn must have really been out of her mind. But one thing I do not understand. It was said that she was found in one of the corridors on the executive deck – not the bridge."

"Yes. The girl ran away after the physical attack. Unfortunately, the hit seemed to have already affected her. She barely was able to get up. Nonetheless, will she recover soon?"

Jonas was still astonished by the Captain's words, "Such a powerful hit... shakes his head Poor girl. We are lucky that she did not suffer any bone fractures. We did not discover anything else on the scans but the visible swollen cheek. But I am very worried of her condition, Captain... Very worried."

"What do you mean, doctor?", the Captain asked with a firm voice and listen carefully.

"That hit was very... _destructive_. No, she did not _break_ a bone of her skull, but we must be aware that Hailynn caused a lot more damage than we can see. I fear Hailynn was not even aware how much strength she put in that swing... A hiigaran child would recover from something like that any moment too soon... but this is a... _kadeshi_ girl.", Jonas explained and came a bit closer to the Captain and as he spoke further, he spoke with hand gestures, "This will not be easy to understand. Aira is very special being. Her physiology and psyche is nothing alike I've seen before. Yes, she has all of the healthy kushan anatomy but there are still certain _differences_. From the medical side, all we know is that the Bentusi have implemented a plethora of bio-tech implants throughout her body, we hardly know their functions – but naturally, the most _sophisticated_ patches are located deeply within her brain. Captain, we must be aware that this girl is a _very... very delicate_ and _fragile_ being. Psychologically, all I was able to figure out was only that she is traumatized by her past. The Bentusi only said to take great care of this child. That hit surely shattered a lot more than we can see."

"Her age is unknown to us, but I must correct you- She may be a girl, but she is no longer a child. She's an adolescent girl."

"Ah, yes. That is correct. But nonetheless, the operative who carried her here said she bumped into him and fell unconsciously, randomly slurring some non-understandable kadeshi words. Right now, all I can say is that she seems to be dreaming. She slurs kadeshi every now and then but if you look carefully, you can see wild eye movement. These waves here on the screen do show some neural activity, showing that she is not suffering under some sort of coma, but the waves are inverted in away that none of my staff are able to comprehend them. I wish we were able to figure more out... but... we are medical doctors... not psyche-neurologists."

"Thank you, Dr. Jonas. I am pleased to see that they both will awake some time. Do not worry. You and your medical staff have done much for this ship."

"Thank you, sir. But I feel I must remind you that the crew does not know of Hailynn's addiction and should remain confidential. Only Ensign Fenna, but she is a person we can trust. Also, Hailynn's misdoing was caused by the drugs and not by intent – This is something I deeply advise to make the crew aware of before any bad gossips are spread. But my greatest concern is the following: Due to the somewhat _parental bond_ to Aira, I fear the worst once Hailynn awakes and notices that she caused great harm to the girl. Hailynn is a strong woman, but she is also a kushan being, sir... Becoming aware of what she caused will surely shatter her psyche as well – maybe just as much as the girl. We must be careful."

"This is a serious warning. Still, I must ask you, do we have any crewmembers with psychological care qualifications?"

"No sir. We will need all the help we can find."

"This is not good. However. Let us leave the two to rest for now."

"Yes sir. Actually. I think you should come with me and speak with a few of our other guests. There is a bit more to learn about."

Both men left the two shattered souls alone to recover from their deep shock.

Later...

Making swift steps ahead, it was Dr. Jonas who rushed forward to the noise occurring from the rear section of the sickbay. Other assistants joined his path. Another pair of dull sounds was heard ahead – for sure, more things must have fallen to the floor. Hearing shouts of a familiar voice and those of his medical staff ahead, he knew he needed to hurry up.

"D-Doctor?", one of the assistants asked from his side, "What is going on?"

Jonas hurried as he signaled the others with his hand for them to hurry up, "I should have seen this coming", he mumbled to himself, then rose his voice, "– You, we need anesthetics, t-4! Get that over here to the back, now!"

Doing as said, one of the medical associates branched off from the group in order to get the desired medical equipment.

"Sigh It's only been an hour...", Jonas said to himself just as he made the last step into the section. Throwing his view to the far left side, he discovered that all hell must have broken lose. Shortly looking over to his right, it was easy to tell that the kadeshi patient was _all right_ in her deep yet worrisome sleep. His view returned to the trouble, spotting three of his assistants having severe trouble trying to keep Hailynn calm. Though tackled by the three men, it was hard to tell if they were actually able to keep hold of her. One already bled from the lip; probably he had received an elbow blow.

"ngggh! Get your HANDS off meeee!", Hailynn ferociously shouted as she desperately tried to get loose. Her face was red, her breath heavy while desperate... Needless to explain how wild her vital signs were.

"Good lords... Better make that a t-3!", Jonas yelled to the back.

Stopping the approach, the medical associate turned around again and hurried back to his previous location.

According to the time, the detoxication only needed just one more hour. Jonas' assistant doctor assumed she would remain calm as of before, but unfortunately, his assistant greatly underestimated both her innermost _demon_ and the aftereffect of the cortisine drug mixture.

"Doctor – here!", the associate said and handed an injection gun loaded with a small capsule filled with the desired effective tranquilizing fluid.

"Thank you – All right, keep her calm and -", Jonas called just as he heard a dull thudding sound transmitting through the whole section. Though hardly felt, he assumed the ship just bumped into something again – The fourth or fifth time by now, that is. Shaking his head, he focused back to the task of getting Hailynn to calmness.

**- Patience -**

A very long while has passed since the slightly battered and partially frozen Vjel-Amaj cruiser and the smaller vaygr fighter began their approach to the mysterious taiidan mothership. Despite the odd welcoming but lonesome signal, it is the vast field of debris that surrounded the colossal vessel that is causing a growth of doubts, fears and distrust among the informed crewmen. They were not far away any more. But soon, the cruiser was about to knock against another object that seemed like a shredded hull piece.

"Hmm...", Dr. Pethera said as she held two transparent but detailed foils up to the light above, "Give me two more – Interval: one hour before and another one three hours earlier, please. Tell me, what else happened with Delixa?"

Several foils laid aside to her as she stood between the two observatory operatives of the bridge.

"Ye... yawn 'xcuse me, ma'am. Yes, will have them print out," Kenta said with a slightly exhausted voice, "This interval would lead us to... the time before we entered the comet and the energy field... Err, no, sorry – long before we were pursued to enter it. However, that was all I can tell of Commander Delixa, ma'am. That's what happened long ago."

"You know. I could listen to the whole story one more time..."

A cold shiver ran down Kenta's spine...

As Pethera endured patience to receive the foils, she threw a short glimpse to the other supporting operatives and officers on the other side of the active bridge. Many voices as usual, but although she tried to see what others were doing, her view frequently fell upon Orelis. Again, she tried to look some place else, even forcing her eyes to gaze some place else... however, the fell upon him again. Ever since that intimidating shout to her, Orelis had not spoken to her, not even threw a view upon her. It seemed as if he ignored her albeit the fact that he was very busy with the order by the captain of relocating crewmen and both hiigaran and vaygr refugees to each other in order to share tight space within crew quarters on certain decks. Pethera made a short sorrow look to the floor, before Kenta caught her attention again.

"Ma'am... Dr. Pethera? Maaa'am?", Kenta frequently called until she caught her attention.

"Excuse me, operative... I was... distracted."

"No problem, ma'am. Here. The foils you requested."

Handing the foils over to Pethera, the s'jet woman laid both foils upon each other before she grabbed another one from a later time interval, soon to hold the three in the light again. Comparing the three detailed out-printed images, her eyes slowly scanned each segment. All foils revealed the logged and captured protocol telemetric shots of the star patch that was previously intended to be used as an orientation for stellar navigation back to Amaji territory. Swapping the foils several times, Pethera frequently compared them quietly, leaving both Kenta and Quan to anxiously wait. Again, she hummed, "_hmm_...".

Both amaji operatives looked at each other.

"What did that kadeshi _zealot_ girl preached before? That the way was _painted_, or so?"

"She said...", Quan replied, trying to remember the exact words, "- said something that our way was... wrong. No, corrupted."

"Yes, yes.", Kenta added, "Our... Ah, the girl said 'our path was tainted'."

"Yeah, she was referring to our hyperjump route, I suppose – but don't ask me why she was sure about that. Aira, that is her _name_, ma'am, did say that the voice of the taiidan mothership warned her."

Obviously to Kenta, she noticed that Quan was subtly annoyed from Pethera's growing attitude according to the kadeshi girl. Unlike her brother, others knew her for her politeness – her calm and friendly diplomatic interactions with others; no matter her innermost appeal. Nonetheless, Pethera carelessly ignored him... not even became aware of his minor hatred or appeal about insulting Aira, "I will not believe what I am to say just now – but that girl was right."

"What?"  
"Ma'am?"  
"Whoever – or – _whatever_ warned her saved us from getting... killed", Pethera relentlessly smirked.  
"Oh dear... Please explain!", Kenta asked with a slightly frightened voice.  
"Well. I will make it short: Everybody knows that the stars within this galaxy are moving... but never are they to move like _this_", the s'jet woman explained and pointed her hands on the foils, "I have noticed distinct but hard to see differences among all of those time intervals. You know we are at a 'safe' distance away from the event horizon of the black hole... but the light emitting from those stars of the patch are effected by it's reach. Frell, I believe there must be some sort of two-dimensional reach crossing between the stars and that position we held before."

Both operative made big eyes, needless to say how astonished they were.

Unlike the two rather surprised from the fact of actually getting sucked within the black hole's treacherous void, Pethera calmly adjusted the single eye visor away from her eye and hid it a bit under her hair.

"Calm down. I know you two feel a bit worried about using that corrupted data as our navigational orientation. Don't forget it was my idea", the s'jet scientist woman continued and laid both hands upon her hips, "There is a way around, for sure."

Although Pethera _unusually seemed_ to take the blame rather quietly and without feeling much guilt, Kenta, on the other hand, turned away and rubbed her face, not believing the fact that she nearly drove the whole ship and its crew into death. Her education in stellar navigation and astronomy stood against a high demand and a test ever since she and her brother took duty onboard this vessel. Black holes have always been treacherous, that was said many times during her presence at the university and the academy. Despite Pethera taking the blame, the young amaji operative still felt guilt.  
Noticing Orelis' voice getting louder, the three turned their view over to him.

"Guess it's a bad time to tell the news, huh, Q?", Kenta whispered to Quan.

"Yeah. But keep cool, it's not all so important right now."

Eavesdropping to Orelis' voice, the three and many others listened to him as he held the transmitter of his communication unit in front of his mouth: "Hey. I don't care much how you want to do it - We need to get those people _somewhere_... No, I'm not making this up... Yes, I know it sounds whack but we have no other choice. The captain said to do so – So, we're going to do so... Yes... Yes, that's an order. Yes, I am ordering you, logistic officer, to coordinate all people – That includes both groups hiigaran and vaygr to share quarters with our crewmen... Trust me, I'm not happy about it either... We'll support you from here as well. What?... Hey, hey. Cut the complains, we have our hands here pretty full as well. But you guys need to hold of that problem as priority – drop whatever you are doing right now. As I said, we will help you the best we can, but you need to get those people out of there. Life support is failing on certain decks and last we need are more corpses...", there was a pause, when suddenly, Orelis shouted into his comm-unit, "Don't EVER say that again about the vaygr onboard, fool – or I will have YOU get thrown out of the AIRLOCK instead! X-O of the bridge, OUT!"

Laying the transmitter back upon his shoulder unit, Orelis took a deep breath as he dropped his head slightly while holding his hand upon his face. So many tasks to do...

"_Jo-mei_...", he cursed quietly before looking upwards again, "Ai' – I mean, sigh Kelsea. Report. Is there anything happening out there?"

A bit surprised by his sudden demand, Kelsea, who sat high above them upon the sensory station, nervously tried to set the spheres of holographic images that surrounded her right. Though she listened to his shouting, herself had been very quiet distracted by slight daydreaming. Nonetheless, she needed to hurry. Orelis was again in bad mood and it was she who was struggling with his patience... Luckily, she figured it out.

"S-sir. We have just bypassed the three kilometer ring of the t-taiidan vessel and are piercing through a very dense field of debris that is surrounding the whole vicinity", slight fear sounded from her voice as she spoke further, "I-I am not sure how to interpret this right, but judging the endless amount of parts out there, this whole... place... seems like a battlefield. The whole area surrounding the mothership is just full of it. There are so many remains of ships, busted parts and other metallic skeletons and fuselages out there that I cannot tell how many are out there. Our approach is shrouding my view as well. I am sorry sir, but I am only capable of using conventional scanning methods."

"It's okay. Well, we're almost there. But one thing is for sure", Orelis said, as he made a glimpse upon one of the many screens revealing a destructed derelict vessel, "This place is a graveyard. Whatever caused this happened very long ago. Years. Don't ask me how many... and -"

Once again, that very loud _DONG_ sound was heard throughout the whole ship. Obviously, debris has knocked against the ship's bow again – but this time, it was so loud and partially intense that cause crew of the ship to feel the impact transmitting through it. Throwing his view upon another screen, Orelis immediately discovered a visibly very large piece of destructed hull and minor pieces of it slowly floating away. The debris was indeed very large... Why did they not dodge it?

"Damn it. That does it.", the temporary executive officer of the bridge said and looked ahead, "Helm?... Helm? Hello, Helm?!", he frequently called out to the frontal region of the bridge, "Ensign Fenna, hey!"

She gave no answer.

As Orelis approached the frontal section, heading straight for the navigation station, he grunted, "Hey, Fenna, what is going on? How many times are you going to bash through this mess, huh? Hey, this ship is not invincible and we cannot afford any more scratches to the damn hull, we've already got a bit of life support trouble going on, if you haven't noticed. Hey, Ensign Fenna?!"

Standing behind and to the side of Fenna's large seat, Orelis slowly leaned down as he spoke further, "Girl, don't tell me you're listening to that manaani music group again like last time on duty at Delco, Fen'. Or worse: autopilot. Bouncing against big things is not funny."

Spotting a certain symbol, he immediately saw what she did, "Autopilot, of course you have. If Hailynn knows about this, she's gonna kill you."

He paused. Actually, Hailynn nearly did. But then, he looked upon Fenna and could not believe his eyes. The young Fenna Amaj, rank ensign of among civilian freighters and currently only person available and able to control this vessel, periodically gave quiet noises from herself as her head rested upon her shoulder. Fenna's hands still held the controls of the ship, but of course this was macabre since the autopilot had full control. She was still strapped up tight upon the seat, rather uncomfortable but despite that... she was asleep.  
Disappointed again by the discovery, Orelis immediately shouted at her to wake up, which she did at once. The sudden jolt surprised her so much that she did not know what to say at the superior officer who threw a vicious stare upon her. Hearing what he shouted before, Fenna stuttered several times, only giving non-understandable words as an excuse for her not noticing the frequent collisions throughout the past hour.

But as Fenna tried to find excuses, Orelis made a long look behind him before he looked back at her as she spoke gibberish. He rubbed his eyes.

Fenna paused immediately, for she feared the worse. There was no way to escape this one. She was still strapped in her chair. She was the only one to blame and not only that, she fell asleep while maintaining such an important station. This was not the first time she was caught doing inappropriate things during responsibility in controlling a large ship... Her record and reputation was actually already flawed. This was bad indeed. Though she was a ranked civilian operative onboard, this job was actually her 'last resort' after the accident she had caused in her past according to the records. And doing this mistake alike before – despite the fact of it happening on a much smaller scale – brought her to what she expected: To be expelled and fired from all duty for good.

Orelis nodded again and again. Stunned by his reaction, she wondered if he was mad. He was already mad about Kaydaana and Pethera before - and now she was his target, of course completely reasonable.

With surprise, things went totally different. Softly patting her right shoulder, Orelis nodded once more and lifted himself again.

"Sorry.", he apologized.

"...Huh?"

Turning away from her station, Orelis left her with her astonishment.

"Everybody. Listen up.", he called out to everybody of the bridge.

Gaining the attention of nearly everybody, he gave a short speech, "Look. I must apologize on my side for being a bit... _rough_ lately. I should have noticed this earlier, but is clear that we all are exhausted. You all know that we are not out of this madness... and soon we are about to walk right into the next one, but nonetheless, please try to stay focused just a bit longer. I know I am asking a lot. I am tired, burnt out and could need a long sleep myself – but I'm not going anywhere yet. Just try to stay awake. About that ship out there, I hardly know anything. Only the captain seems to know. Other than that, I don't know if we will have a welcoming party... Frell, don't even know if it will be a boarding party or anything. Whatever. Just try to keep up the work. We will soon dock that ship and leave the rest to the other shifts and the marines who will be dispatched first. All right?... Thank you."

Nearly everybody seemed to agree. Some yawned and other shook their heads.

"Ensign Fenna?"

"Y-Yes, sir? I'm sorry for -"

"It's okay. Something else I want to ask you about. Have you ever performed docking?"

"Well, yes sir. But that was an industrial freighter, much smaller than this ship... and don't know if I am capable to do such. Can't we just... get Hailynn over here and -"  
"No. No excuses. Improvise."  
"- but."  
"Improvise."

Orelis had the last word. Confirming his order with a worried face, Fenna returned her view upon the station. Battling to stay awake was her task for now, she only needed to fight against it just a bit more.

"Comm'.", Orelis called out.

"Aye, sir?"

"Have Ray to dock onboard again – Oh and whatever you are doing right now, don't forget him in that junction like last time."


	12. Chapter 12 Eerie

With all eyes staring upon the main screens, the entire crew of the bridge remained startled as they observed the live feed images revealing several large but closed docking gateways.  
Only a selected few have ever seen a mothership – but this one was nothing alike. They all underestimated its true size and were surprised how diminutive and puny the cruiser seemed compared to the hulk.  
The edge of the sunlight was already out of sight, leaving the lone cruiser among the darkness of the dense graveyard. Unlike others, Fenna's fear of the mischievous black did grow despite the company of the bridge crew behind her.  
Ever since the captain returned to the bridge, he repeatedly told everybody to maintain calm... Fenna knew he had to be kidding her. Still slowly piercing through this vast field of debris, junk and darkness, the distinct cruiser threw a small number of searchlights and invisible scan beams among the rather dead metallic skin of mothership.

Meanwhile onboard, one of the many bridge operatives approached the captain from the side. The male operative held a small printed page with a row of names and was not pleased at all.  
"Petty Officer Evin?"  
"Sir... This is the CR update according... according to the events that took place during our time in the comet..."  
Receiving the page, the captain noticed the trembling hand of the operative. His face was pale but firm. Approaching the two, Orelis asked, "Is this the casualty report, sir?"  
"Aye."  
Many names were on the list, but foremost, it was the familiar names that held the thought of the captain and the operative in hesitation.  
"... So many deaths in this whole rescue operation...", Orelis insisted to add, "Frell, I know they fell while doing their job, but... These deaths could have been avoided if that one fool had --"  
"Enough.", the captain intervened, "Mr. Evin. Thank you, please return to your post. And one more thing: No word to the rest of crew. Not yet. I will handle this on my own."  
'Yes sir' was all the operative said with a low voice and left the two superiors.

"Helm, status."  
"M-Maintaining a constant distance of two hundred meters away from the vessel. This is approximately the position from where the beacon's signal had emitted before, Captain", Fenna's slightly unsure voice said from ahead, "The beacon stopped its transmission just recently but approximately from this position. I... I do not know what to do now, sir."  
"Full stop."  
"Aye, sir."

"Hmm", Orelis said from the side of the Captain and moved closer to the main screen, "Wait, what is that over there? That... Green stuff. No, over there. Right there – hold it right there. It's spread everywhere among the hull. Doesn't look like it belongs there. Actually – it doesn't even look natural."  
"Rough scans show it is of dead organic material. Cannot really tell what it is – Seems like some kind of... leak rupturing the hull. Maybe from its life support fluids?", Kenta assumed, "I am not sure, but there is a lot more of it spread all around this area, but our angle to them is too steep and close."  
"Leak of life support fluids? Well, it looks pretty damn biological than synthetic to me... Too biological."  
"We are performing a deep scan right of what is available. Should not take to long."

The captain pinched his eyes together. Though he did not seem as worried as the others, something did tell Orelis that the captain had noticed something disturbing, yet he did not insist to bother him by questioning. However, it was clear for Orelis that the captain seemed to have recognized something.  
"Ensign Fenna. Yaw to port. 90° counterclockwise."  
"S-sir?"  
"Ensign. Do not mistake this ship with the appearance Kushan Mothership. The Imperial Taiidan Mothership was naturally horizontally built, not vertically. Unlike the ship of our ancestors, it was said that the wide and broad construction allowed more volume and warfare segments."  
"I see. Yes, sir – altering angle of yaw."  
"Captain. I must remind you that the current shift has exceeded its capacity. We must concur to calling in the replacement shift, sir. Many of them – and I must say, I too – are exhausted due to the long period of activeness. It may be a bad suggestion, but shall we take medication, sir?", Orelis reminded him, "Also, despite my concern of this being a trap, shall we have marine teams be ready to maintain guard at all entries of our ship if we are to dock?"  
"Yes. But more to that later."  
"Are we to stay on the ship?", somebody else asked from the side of the bridge.  
"Sounds like a bad idea if you ask me...", another one quietly sneered.

Following the movement of his captain with his eyes, Orelis stared at the chief-in-command who took several slow steps among the bridge. The captain knew a lot more of this ship. Yes, he was surprised of this historical hulk, but there was something else about it – something that disturbed him.

"Comm'", the captain called out, using the slang term of the communication station.  
Surprisingly answering by habit, Kelsea's voice responded from the sensory station above, mistakenly, "Yes, sir – Comm' standing by -... Err... Oh... oops...!"  
She slapped her forehead.  
"Kelsea – You're our eyes for now – not ears.", Orelis reminded her.  
"Yes, sir – What can we do for you?", one of the communication operatives recalled to the captain from below.  
"Prepare a public announcement to the whole ship for me."  
"Underway."

"Captain?! Look! Something is happening ahead...", Fenna yelled to the back.  
According to her speech, everybody threw his or her view to the main screen, soon to observe an occurring event. Faint signal lights began to illuminate but flickered several times while others only glowed weakly.  
Along to this, what caused Fenna's astonishment were the vast gateways slowly opening their massive vaults... soon to reveal a single small object floating at the center behind them. At first, the signal lights flickered again and again, many of the erratically before they instantly shut down at once.  
Another moment went by until they charged up again, flickered but then began to show a periodical algorithm. The signals began to reveal a path to the inner region of the ship. But to her, this entrance was more like an open mouth of a monster wanting to devour the whole ship.  
"Fenna, calm down", Orelis demanded to her.  
Fenna indeed reacted too nervous. Using her left hand, she rubbed her face and strained eyes several times. Anxiety already flew through her veins. Though unease, she apologized for her tense reactions.  
"It's ok. Well... What now? Is this some kind of... invitation?"  
"Any word from the voice? From the persona called Shodanii?", the captain asked.  
"Negative, sir", one of the communication officers replied, "But I am sure it is her. I assume this is an invitation as the X-O presumed."  
"Captain, P.A. request is completed. Your signal is locked to the frequency to be transmitted throughout our ship."  
"Thank you, I will do so shortly, but I need all of you to listen to what I have to say now."

"Captain. I have... received a single message just now – originating somewhere from that ship."  
"Must be Shodanii. What is her message?"  
"Not much. The only thing I was able to receive was 'Proceed...'."

Everybody immediately seized their current interactions in order to listen carefully.  
"All of you. What I am about to say will sound troublesome, but I please you to remain calm. We are not in danger. We shall remain cautious but shall not fear the worse. I do recognize the biological matter that is spread among this small region of the hull and the remains of these destroyed ships. Probably, there is more of it all around the ship..."  
Orelis crossed his arms. The captain did in fact notice something.  
"... This biomass what we all can see here is the dead remains of the Beast."  
A few startled faces, but the many did not seem to understand what their superior officer was referring to.  
"As I said before, we are witnessing historical remains of the kushan-taiidan conflict. I cannot explain how this is possible, but the Beast I mentioned is the same biomechanical menace that threatened our ancestors several centuries ago. Historically, it is the Kiith Somtaaw we are to thank for our souls to exist today."  
"What...?!", a few questioned, beginning to understand his words.  
"... The red Beast as it once was, was an infesting parasitic being that could assimilate both organic and mechanical or technological hosts and objects. The Beast terrorized many systems throughout the Hiigaran Empire. Even the Bentusi feared this dangerous creature. I do not recall much of this, but all I can remember accordingly to history is that the Kiith Somtaaw Mothership 'Kuun-Lan' bravely strived throughout space to stop the dreadful menace. Despite all fear, they brought victory over the Beast and claimed the title of 'Beast-Killer' to the Kiith Somtaaw. That is not all, though. Remaining ships of the Beast's still existed back then but both the Kiithid of Hiigara and the Bentusi engineered the technology and the vaccine that effectively could sterilize the remaining vessels, the people and ships from further infection for good. Vaccinated remnants were no longer red but green... As we can see here, it seems as if this taiidan vessel was infested – or intruded – by the remains. I cannot say from here what truly happened back then but I am able to see that remains are dead. Their synaptic connections would still glow as natural sign of activity but they are all dead. Again, while we do need to remain cautious, there is no need to fear the Beast. By now, the vaccine's effect would have already killed the remains. The chronological connection between this ship and the Beast's remains however remains a mystery to me. As of this ship graveyard, I am able to recognize both derelicts of imperial taiidan and... turanic raider ships as well..."  
It became clear that many of the operatives feared the stories of the turanic raiders. Only a few had ever met these so-called space pirates.  
"Whoa... I mean... Wow", Orelis insisted to say, "That makes that two... no... three historical things on one place... in this forsaken star system. Well, all of this is starting to sound like some cheap made-up story somebody is making up. Anyways, I do recall some of that history, sir. Frell, that explains why the Kiith Somtaaw are doing well on their own – I don't even remember seeing any somtaaw delegate in our councils. Alas, with all need of respect, sir, but this assignment we've taken over is frakked up beyond all good."

"Sir", one deck operative asked from rear section of the bridge, "If I may ask: What... What are the turanics doing so far out and away from 'turanic space'? Why are there remains within these taiidan remains?"  
"Those are questions I can only answer partially. The historians assumed the imperials formed a silent non-aggression pact back then due to the frequent confrontations of our wayfaring ancestors with both. Bear in mind that these turanic ships have been destroyed since ages. No need to fear them now."  
Turanics had always been known for their violence. There were distinct nomad factions among amaji space, but they all had similar ways of feared aggressions. Some would either ambush convoys of ships or even raid stations just for the loot and helpless people to enslave or worse. Foremost, the female operatives of the crew seemed to be more affected by this discovery – for they were the most valuable and primary 'good' to loot for turanic raiding parties.

"Orders, sir?"

"We are going to dock nonetheless, X-O. Shelter within this ship is the best we are to find for now. "Prepare standard docking procedure. I assume we are to follow that object floating at the gateway. For now, I need to perform an announcement."  
"Affirmative. Well, Ensign. You heard the Captain. Approach the gateway and retract all exteriors. We are going to dock. To all stations, 'Status: Blue'. We're bringing her in. Observatory, I would like two high level drones and one com-sat probe to be dispatched and to maintain close orbit to the mothership. They should allow us to maintain an overview within and among a limited region around this ship."  
"Right away, sir."

Clearing his throat, the captain turned away and pressed a key upon his communication unit that caused it to end standby and lock on the readied frequency to conduct the announcement that was soon to be heard throughout the whole ship:  
""Click Attention to all decks. This is the captain. This announcement will explain the state our current status and further intentions. As some have noticed, we have emerged from hyperspace too early and have discovered a lone taiidan mothership-class vessel. An unknown persona has summoned us to its position to dock onboard and I am willing to concur. The intention of this taiidani persona is not seen as hostile. As of this situation, we shall remain calm but cautious. Concealment from further dangers in this system and repairs among the ship needs to be fulfilled. Due to the current status of our ship, our crew is forced to share quarters with the rescued refugees as well. I please all of you to remain calm, nonetheless. Additionally, I have decided to have a base camp to be erected at point-blank range once we are docked and expeditionary groups to conduct explorations for information gatherings after security teams have secured the adjacency among the ship. Despite all caution, we shall take this opportunity to have the crew to recover from the events of our strenuous journey throughout this dangerous system as well. In other words, I am also ordering to allow shore leave and rest to those in need of personal recreation. Replacement shifts are soon needed to take over the operation of the ship. Lastly, please standby for any instructions considering the shore leave. Thank you. Bridge, out. click""

Approaching Fenna's station again, Orelis leaned down and said, "It's all up to you, Ensign. Are you ready for this?"  
"To be honest... no... sir."  
"Remember, you are not alone. We will support you the best we can."  
The young amaji woman sunk into her seat again. For Orelis, it was easily noticeable that Fenna was not as brave as Hailynn though explainable due to her lack of experience. All of the responsibility and the trouble in this system was enough of a shock for her... and it was not even end of it.  
Though this young woman was a freighter pilot formerly with a flawed record, she still was a greenhorn in piloting larger vessels. On the other hand and besides a selected few, nearly the whole crew was green. Orelis knew that she was tired and actually beyond the point of staying awake, easily seen by her strained eyes that burned with each second they remained open.  
It was slightly misleading though; She was under intense stress right now and just the word 'turanic' already gave her an adrenaline rush. He did feel sorry for her and for now he needed to show her consideration and support.  
Making nervous movements, Fenna leaned over to one of the intercom transmitter units from the side of her station. Orelis threw a startled face as he observed her doing, what was she up to?  
Her jumpy voice spoke over the speakers of the bridge, "To – to all decks. Brace yourself – this approach might get... bumpy. Fe-Fenna out. click"  
Without any other word, the young pilot laid the transmitter back to its spot and slowly laid her grips back upon the main controls.  
"Good thinking, Ensign. But next time, set it to the whole ship and not just the bridge."  
Wide eyes met his.

Slowly approaching the side of the captain, it seemed as if Pethera had something intentional to say. Noticing her approach, the captain made a short look before he spoke, "Pride, Dr.Pethera. I expected you to come."  
"Is that so...?"  
"Yes. But before you tell me what you like to say, I would appreciate the help of your subordinates. Our ship possesses a datalink library and with the help of your research team, I am sure some of your scientists will find anything useful. We require any information you can find from those history chips and datalinks about the taiidan and specifically why we are witnessing a second vessel of such type."  
Surprisingly to a few who eavesdropped, Pethera accepted the rather suddenly given task, "I shall deal with it."  
"Now then. What is it you wish to say?"  
"Thank you... Captain. As you may have assumed already, I would like my associating teams to be side by side with your expeditionary crew. We will of course offer all of our equipment to support you."  
The captain nodded silently, "That is possible, but please inform your teams that they shall remain behind our marines..."  
At the very moment the captain ended his sentence, one of the communication operatives suddenly discovered an unusual signal emitting from the colossal vessel, "Sir, contact!"

"Report."  
"It seems to-- be some sort of short-wave communication uplink. Emitting from...", the operative added, but ended his speech as his face pointed ahead to the main screen, "It's a data uplink, to be precise. I can't tell what it really is – could be a program of some sort..."  
"Or some virus to take control..."  
"No. I doubt that.", the captain noted, "I doubt it to be harmful. That must be Shodanii, I suppose. Have the uplink to be granted and patch it through to us."

**Chapter 12 – Eerie**

Drifting into the inner world of the taiidani mothership, the 'Vjel-Amaj' slowly made its way as it followed the row of signals and the drone that took lead. Alike a spacious maze, the interior offered much space for minor vessels to bypass.  
But as accordingly noticed to the exterior looks and presumed age of this enormous mothership, both time and battle have left their traces. Even within this region, minor patches of debris floated around, some of them bouncing against the hull of the cruiser. Along to this rather unpleasant inner world, the appearance of the whole area threw a threatening and disturbing shroud of mystery.  
A dusty gray and blue haze that held the visibility range low, only slowly revealing what was ahead as the ship drifted along. Faraway regions within this broad but foggy area glowed up weakly, probably affected by power fluctuations.

Due to out sticking valves, severely damaged industrial segments and interrupted connections, the amaji cruiser often needed to alter both yaw and course – and that often in a very unprofessional manner... and sometimes with unwanted contacts that was felt several times throughout the ship.  
During the drift, some have discovered abandoned but cruelly smashed and destructed objects that probably resembled the remains of differently sized taiidan ships spread among the region of the outer scaffold. The most frightening for many of the crew was the amount of remaining floating objects... surely resembling the remains of thousands of corpses floating everywhere throughout the outer scaffold and its vast space. A disgusting view indeed.

"Well, I'll be damned. A taiidan missile destroyer", an operative said from the rear section of the bridge. But alike the rest of the ships, they were all either busted by imminent decompression or by an unknown cause of rupture.  
"This place is not only a graveyard... An onslaught happened here."

"Any... response, comm'?"  
"Nothing, Captain. Uplink has been established. Whatever sent it is able to listen."  
"Maybe it is we who have to do the first step. Open a channel to allow me to interact with the taiidan persona."  
"Yes, sir. One moment-- Ready."  
Receiving word, the captain made a hand signal to others to remain quiet as he began speech, "This is the captain of the 'Vjel-Amaj' cruiser calling out to 'Shodanii'. We do not quite know your intentions. However, we assure you that our presence is not of hostile intent. The navigator of our ship was guided here by the cause of ... your... deed. Please respond."

Many of the bridge crew anxiously awaited whomever to reply. Finally, within a short moment, the voice responded though accompanied by loud interferes, overlaying digital beeps, tones and broadband noise that gave more weight to theory that the overall communication array of the mothership was just as severely damaged as the rest of it,

""mmmrhrhrhzzzbeepbzeppp Kushans. This... am... Shodanii...ffshhhhhzzt""  
The crew looked at each other. It seemed as if the 'galactic common' language was slightly different before their time.  
"Shodanii. Greetings," the captain replied but paused, not knowing what to say next at first," There are... so many... questions to ask. I do not know where to start."

""Questions... I endeavor to answer. My being seeks answers and favor as well. Questions... Kushan may... contin--mmeezzrrrzh...""  
Another group of the crew looked at each other. The transmitted voice did at first sounded like a woman but in between, a computerized portion completed part of her individual words.  
As if an AI of some sort was accompanying her speech.  
"Very well, Shodanii. Let us being with the following: I will explain our situation. Although our ancestors are of kharakian heritage and thus kushan, today, we are now known as 'hiigarans'. Specifically, we are hiigarans of the Kiith Amaj. Our ancestors have reclaimed Hiigara as our true homeworld and caused the fall of the emperor, his mothership alike this one you are situated on, and the imperial taiidan regime. This event however has occurred nearly a century ago – which leads us to question why we are speaking to each other now. This cruiser, the 'Vjel-Amaj', was dispatched to this distant star system as the only ship available to respond to those in desperate need of rescue. We have encountered many hardships among our way that forced us to remain within this system, including the encounter with the remnants of the Vaygr, a warrior race whom our people fought barely a few years ago. If I may ask: Who are you, Shodanii, and where are you leading us to?"

""Mmmhrreeep Hiigarans... I see. The imperial taiidan regime no longer... existsss – Brethren knews of this... Incident Cause of All - Do not fear, Hiigaranzzz. I am of no threat.brreeep I am Shodanii... Or... I am... What is left. Much is to explain... Thiszz vessel is third of only three mothershipsszzmhhrhrvheep in szzzerrvice, deep ssspace colony shiprrrrhhez. V.Z.Dash.Seven.Seven.Nine.H.Zero.Three. But time am scarce of thizzz transmission, Hiigaran. Transmission – my presence is not able to uphold for long. My guidance to your lead: To the inner scaffold... Drydocks... Vjel-of-Amaj seeks refuge. Pressurized. Maintanenzzzz unitsshzzhhshh and compone-ssmsdoffnnv availablhhz. Close to Hydroponics, Recreational... My presence offers refuge. Hiigaran, caution muszzt prevail. Decompressed sectors throughout thiszzzhshhs ship. Fearrhhsh not the noise of hull... Last of my presence conssshtantly am maintaining integrrrrty...svhsh""  
"We understand. Shodanii, we have discovered that this vessel has sustained severe damage and casualties over the past years. Were the turanics the cause of this? What is this you call 'Incident Cause of All'? Can you explain?"  
Everybody listened carefully but they all had difficulties understanding her distorted voice and the indeed flawed lingual expression.

""I szzzhall explain this tragic inciihzzehent once you have rrrresched my presenzzzhnz. Hiigaran... Turanicnzzz I fear - Perhapzz time wills it in between to essxplanation... fffhsh Where is the... 'young unbound mind'zzrreeeep?""

Kenta rose her head and asked, "Young mind? Is she referring to Aira?".  
"For sure sigh", Pethera replied with a bored voice.

"You must mean our youngest crewmember, Aira. Yes, she is currently unconscious and is resting at sickbay. She is unavailable at this moment."  
""Understandings... I do.rrrmmheeeep . My presences can communicationzzes better with the 'young mind'. My fear, time izzh coming to an end... Hiigaran, you muszzt-t seek way to my presence within this ship. mththehehee The young mind must find my presence --... The girl must follohhhhrhz the zzsong... I shall give her the guidance she needs to find my presenssszzzzz- Please Hiigaran. I seek serenity as favor...""  
"I do not understand quite, Shodanii, but we will try to do as you demand and seek your... 'presence'."  
""Inforzzemation am transszferring. The information offerz the pathhzzz. The decksfsch. Time has come to ending... My presence shall return... Seek. Please – Seek...vrrsshhhhhsczzs – veeeep""

With the sudden, the transmission abruptly ended with the noise.  
"Comm', what happened?"  
"Not sure, sir. I guess her time was limited. I think it is plausible that her communication system does not possess enough power or efficiency to uphold her signal for all too long. However, sir, we are receiving some additional data. Our systems are not able to comply, but we will figure something out. I am afraid that we will require the support of the scientists onboard, too... I ensure to maintain a sentry program that will keep aware of her return."  
Making a short look over to Pethera, she simply made a slight shrug rather than nodding. She did seem to accept but did not really care; her interests had something else in mind. Orelis rose himself from Fenna's station and turned around with a confused face, "Excuse my interruption, but am I the only one who didn't understand a word she said? – Actually, turanics was what I understood... and I don't like it at all..."

"There will be enough time for explanations, X-O, yet I wish to have our security teams to disembark and establish a forward camp as soon as possible. While engineering begins with repairs and maintenances, we will need to encrypt the received data and see how it can support us in bringing us to the 'presence'."  
"Presence? Now you are sounding like her, captain. Oh well, guess this place is not a ghost ship after all."

"Heads up, X-O. As for the rest of you, all of you will be dismissed from duty to recreate yourselves as said before."  
"C-Captain?", Kelsea's voice called from above, "I apologize for my interruption, but with us being so long in this system, isn't it likely that Amaji Fleet Command will sooner or later send a search fleet, Captain? We clearly have already bypassed the deadline of return or report... and with turanics so far out h-here --"  
"Remain calm. However, that is not likely. I strictly denied any supplementary dispatch during the briefing. We may have underestimated this system and this mission, but if something were to happen to us, it would be reckless to send any other ships for seeking us... especially to this dead gas giant."  
Kelsea did not reply as she slowly laid her back upon her seat while surrounded by a few holographic symbols and images.

Ten minutes later... somewhere within the taiidan mothership.  
The drydocks was another dark but spacious pressurized and semi-gravitated section of the ship's enormous hangar. Led and later abandoned by the guiding drone of Shodanii and after the cruiser had undergone the transfer from the decompressed sector to this sector, the slightly frozen ship drifted downwards, approaching the metallic field with scaffolds that offered enough vacant space for a destroyer to land.  
Again, the whole operation was in hands of Fenna, who anxiously tried to keep hold of landing. For hours had she been messing with yaw controls, yaw rates, thrust inducers, gravity controls and many other systems with any possible name for maneuverability...  
"Keep her steady, Ensign", Orelis said, "Slow down. Okay - You got her angled right but the rate of descent is a bit too great."  
Fenna wanted to grab the right control but hesitated as she tried to find it. Due to the weariness in her mind, her confusion held her hand at place. Too late, feeling the not so gentle impact upon ground, the entire crew became aware that the ship has finally landed – hard...  
"S-Sorry."  
"It's all right, Ensign Fenna", the captain said from afar, "We made it. Ops, let us not waste any time: Dispatch marine teams one through three to secure the area."  
"Roger, sir."

Amidst the belly of the ship, three small groups of armed marines exited the access airlock. Several groups of light beams scanned the dark surroundings frequently. All beams frequently met the floor and walls of the section, showing nothing but old metal. Despite their strength, the beams were not capable of revealing how high the whole section was.  
The area was not totally empty as presumed before, though. All teams discovered many sealed crates, very old looking vehicles and other things laid spread everywhere. Scaffold railings and other cargo-loading units rested quietly among their surroundings.  
After five minutes of securing, skeptical checks and scouting, it seemed that the men were not going to find anything hostile. Using the opportunity, the commanding marine called out, "Team Beta, Cisco. Report in."  
""Negative. Nothing to report – other than the disgusting smell - Over.""  
""Team Cisco. All clear, over.""  
"Understood." Resetting his frequency, the superior marine called out again, "Bridge Command. This is Teamleader. We have discovered nothing out here. The sector is only filled with machines and crates, over."  
""Copy that, TL. Is the region clear for settlement?""  
"Affirmative. We should still keep our eyes open for anything. I strongly advise to have those people out here to be armed and have their radio units to be auto-locked on once they disembark."  
""Roger, TL. Commencing settlement teams to disembark. Maintain security. Bridge, over and out.""

"Helm. Engineering. Disengage all propulsion and main powering systems. ", the Captain commanded.  
Doing as said, both Fenna and the available engineers upon the bridge conducted several procedures. Opening one of the panels to her side, Fenna flipped several switches down and pressed a row of keys above her.  
Within moments, the constant humming of the ship began to calm down as other operatives announced the shutdown of the systems each by their names. Parallel to the event, several status lights of ship went dark gray and it did not take long until all lights and displays changed to standby. The bridge lighting dimmed as well. A few of the bridge crew began to leave their stations.  
Fenna threw her head upon the seat again and looked upwards. With a long sigh, she quietly said, "We... made it... I don't believe it..."  
"No. You made it, Ensign. Good job.", Orelis corrected her with a calm voice.  
"Th-Thank you, sir. I guess I will rest here and -"  
"What?! Frell, no, woman."  
"S-sir?", she asked, surprised by his expression.  
"You've been here long enough. You need to rest like many of us – Leave your station and get some sleep, you are dismissed."  
"But... but who is going to fly us out of here if something happens upon this... ghost ship?"  
"No talking about it. It will be our bad luck then. IF we must, we will kick you and Hailynn out of bed and pump both of you up with enough drugs to stay awake for the next week!"  
There was note of sarcasm in his voice, but his words did cause her to think they might do such a thing...

Meanwhile, deep within the 'Vjel-Amaj'.  
Noticed among the corridor, everybody made space for the tall, masked, dark skinned man in the heavy flight suit. The corridor was filled hiigaran officers, crewmen of the ship and countless numbers of refugee families and people being coordinating and announcing groups.  
Those who were in the way swayed away slightly, smiled and greeted him. Others thanked him and even a few of them wanted to shake his hand. He spotted many familiar faces. These loving families were mixed, both hiigarans and vaygr. All of them were those he pledged to protect with his life, despite being the last of the lone 'warriors' who stayed true to their roots. The crusade of the Scay'Gra has killed all of his kind, preferably those who were able to fight. Some who heard of his new name began to call out "Ray, Ray, Ray" cheerfully.  
Walking by, he noticed that they listened to officers speaking loudly, talking about some sort of get-together. Never was he used to crowds. At first, he wanted to stay at his fighter, but the mechanics told him that he needed to leave the cargo bay for them to consult full maintenance.  
Not really knowing where to go, it became clear to Ray that he was... sort of lost. Hands kept patting his back, even more shook his hands.  
"Hey, you. Mister -", a woman's voice said from behind, "You there, Mr. 'Ray'. Is that you?"  
A rather small but graceful hiigaran officer who held a strange bag approached him, "You seem to be the one I was supposed to keep a look out for. You were not easy to find despite your size – heh-heh-heh"  
Ray's eyes looked beyond his oxygen mask down upon her and did not say a word. His manner did scare her chuckling, although it was unintentional by him – He simply did not know what to say. This woman did seem familiar, alike a low ranked woman she had once seen at the bridge – however this one wore with a totally different uniform and higher ranking.

"Eh-eh-Excuse me for that one. You really need to get an ID signal so we can find you easier. Nonetheless, Mr. Ray – I was assigned to look for you and guide you to a designated quarter. Please, follow me."  
Moving along, Ray walked beside the woman, "Ma'am? I do not understand."

Again, the woman began to talk much, "You might have noticed, Mr. Vaygr –I mean, Ray, that the ship is not really that large. Okay – wait, it's the largest of what we call 'civiltary' cruiser of the Kiith Amaj but with certain decks needing to be locked down and the large amount of people taken onboard, we needed to do something about it. The superiors insisted to have the people to share quarters. If you ask me, it is a very good idea so the people would not have to be cramped in the cargo bay. You have no idea how troublesome it was for us logistic officers to maintain a steady leave for humanitarian things. I even have my own vaygr roommate, too. I am a bit... anxious... about it - but this will be interesting. They said this whole operation was going to have that special something, but this caught everybody off-guard... Frell, even me. chuckles"

During the long walk and rides through certain corridors and decks, the woman frequently spoke about many other things that made Ray wonder why she had to so much to say. She spoke so much that his mind even wandered off shortly as he followed her. Other hiigaran and vaygr refugees were being directed to nearby quarters as well.

"... but anyways. This is the place..."  
"Hmm."  
"Let's see if anybody's home – shall we?", she said and pressed a certain key on the pad. Ray heard a single, calm but unknown tone to Ray.  
"Is this an acoustic alarm?"  
"Alarm - ? hah-ha-ha – No, no. Just nothing else but a doorbell. More of an... acoustic warning for an unexpected roommate, I would say."  
Pressing the key a second time and waiting a bit longer, it seemed that nobody was available.  
"Heh... She's not home.", the woman said. Suddenly she turned away and whispered, "Well, this will be a surprise... heh-heh."  
"Ma'am?"  
"Err – nothing. This is the place you will need to stay at, big guy – eh, Ray, yeah, Ray. It's a quarter not like the huge officer ones though, but it has enough space for two people. At least better than those standard ones like on other hiigaran ships with shared bunks. I'm sure you two will get along."  
As the female logistics officer spoke further, she pressed a few other keys on the small access pad, causing the access door to the quarters to open by override.  
"Is it right to intrude, ma'am? I insist to wait outside."

"Ahh, don't worry, she loves company", the officer snickered and tossed the large bag inside, "That'll be your stuff, Ray. No need for a tall man like you to be shy – c'mon!"  
Feeling rather pushed in, the small woman forced Ray deep into the room.  
"I need to go now, Ray. You just wait here in the bed room – all riiiight?"  
"Ma'am, this is the sleeping quarters of somebody else. I insist not to -"  
"Enjoooy..." – Having the last word, the doors of the quarters closed, leaving the tall man in the space suit in an unfamiliar and unwanted situation. Insisting to do and touch nothing else, the vaygr pilot remained at his place within the bedroom, standing several steps away from the entrance to the living room – Yet another test of vaygr patience and endurance, he supposed.

Almost ten minutes later...  
Eavesdropping to the speech as she rode downwards within the pretty tight lift, Fenna quietly listened to the few crewmen that shared gossips of the ship – and to her surprise, they were well informed about what happened to Hailynn, Aira – and even the events within the comet. Bad news and gossips always spread fast.  
What made all matters worse was the fact that they were making many rumors up as well. By each second, the truth was being shoved off the edge for more lies. She needed to stop this. Taking several deep breaths, the young pilot formed both of her hands into fists – but just as Fenna gathered enough courage to say something, the selected few crewmembers exited the lift, leaving her alone.  
Fenna frowned... Well, at least there was more space now. As she stood alone, the ride that only took a few seconds to the desired deck was long enough for her mind to recall what has happened so far.  
The harsh excitement of her duty was over for now, but she was so worn out that it took her a while to figure her way to the crew quarters section. If there was one thing for sure, she could not wait to throw herself in bed and dream of returning to Hiigara for vacation. Fenna woke up from her daydream as she stood in front of an access door. Pressing the access number on the pad, it frequently gave an access denied tone.  
"What the frakk – Oh, c'mon", she said to herself and gave the number several times again and again. Had she forgotten the number?  
Other crewmembers walked by, somehow surprised of her doings. Though one wanted to say something, the others held him back as they smirked 'let her figure it out' or something alike.  
"My gods... Don't tell me need to call a log'...", she said again to herself, rubbed her strained eyes and as she looked down, she discovered the name tag upon the pad, revealing the wrong name upon it. Fenna turned around with a sleepy but annoyed face. Obviously, she was so fatigued that she even did not notice that she stood in front of the wrong door. Although she seemed annoyed at first, she simply moved away to the right one.  
Hitting the key sequence again, the door opened straight at once. 'Lone, sweet, home' she whispered. Making an able movement with both hands as she walked into the living room, Fenna opened her chignon, uniformed jacket, shirt and the vest beneath. As usual, she threw the jacket upon the table, which immediately slipped to the floor.  
Finally, at home – or at least the place she wanted to be for now. There was no better feeling for her than feeling of being off-duty. It did not take long until she removed the belt holster, its sidearm, her communication gear and the pants. Stretching several times and moving around with her vest wide open, Fenna walked into the bedroom... soon to be surprised by the tall dark figure that stood right there like a statue.  
Fenna immediately threw both hands over her chest as she fell to the ground... Having not the slightest idea who it was, her mind immediately assumed it was some kind of taiidan or turanic wanting to attack her. Unfortunately shocked by the sudden appearance of the tall masked man staring upon her, Fenna gave a short but loud scream and fell upon her back. It was a breathtaking and stunning surprise indeed.  
Raising both hands up, Ray calmly said, "Ma'am, please. I did not want to surprise you."  
"WHO THE FRELL ARE... startled R-Ray, is that you!"  
"...That is how the others call me..."  
Fenna curled her legs together... Needless to say how embarrassed she felt to be seen half-naked by this stranger.  
"Y-You pants wanna give me a heart attack?! I had enough surprises from those last gods-know-how-many shifts!"  
"I apologize."  
Fenna shook her head frequently. This surprise gave her another rush that she was too jumpy to even calm down, "Wha- gasps Where - How... What the frell are you doing here?!"  
"An officer woman of Amaj said it was needed to... 'get together', that is what she has said. A woman who looks astounding alike to you, ma'am. "  
Hiding her bra under her vest again, Fenna got up to her legs again.  
"I deeply apologize for my intrusion. I did not want to scare you, amaji. I insisted to wait outside, but the officer woman denied that and had me locked in here. I assumed it was an usual procedure of hiigarans for strangers onboard."  
"That is not your fault... Nnngh - DAMN you, Deena!", she suddenly said and formed a tight fist in front of her face. Fenna began to mumble words to herself – rather cursing the woman who left this surprise for her.  
"Who?"  
"The rather evil minded version of me. ", the young amaji woman said with a very annoyed voice, "Twin sister."  
"Sister?"  
Fenna turned around to him, "Twin sister. You know...", unable to find words, she shrugged, "I see. I only have... male brethren."

Both paused and stared at each other, and as they did, Ray observed her carefully. Indeed, this Fenna-woman was a rather small and slender hiigaran of the Kiith Amaj. And there she stood, with short but messed up hair, an open shirt and bare legs and feet. Compared to Commander Hailynn Delixa, Fenna was nowhere near the strength, height or military knowledge of Hailynn. Ray was very well in perception.  
Weariness began to fill her mind again. Unable to resist, Fenna gave a long yawn.  
"-ehh sigh... 'xcuse me...", she said and rubbed her eyes, "Well... Ray – You have no idea how embarrassing this is... But we are grown-ups... If I weren't so tired, I'd be on the way to my sister to beat her up."  
"I am not used to... roommates, ma'am. I strongly recommend to have me transferred alone to a place elsewhere."  
She sighed again.  
Though red as melon, half-exposed but tired, she shook her head, "Look. It's pretty late. I understand it was not your fault – but we will handle this. First of all – Stop calling me, ma'am. We are roommates – I'm just an Ensign if you want to see it that way, but I'm actually just a mortal hiigaran in the lowest caste of the Kiith. Nobody special – Nobody important. Secondly, just call me Fenna or Fen'."  
"Understood."  
Fenna laid both hands upon her rather open hips. Suddenly, both heard several metallic streaks of sounds transmitting through the hull of the whole ship – and as she heard the sounds, Fenna was constantly scared by the sudden noise that frequently hollowed above and below them.  
The sound did become weaker, but it was still at present and there was no sign of an end. Despite the fact that she knew it was caused by the mothership maintaining its hull integrity – or whatever -, her innermost phobia slowly overcame her again. She feared and hated everything that had to do with derelicts, ghost ships and all eerie noises that sounded alike to deforming hull platings. Instinctively, Fenna curled her arms around her head and went to the bed. Ray, on the other hand, did not move a muscle at all. He just stood there, cool and quiet as usual.  
"Y-You vaygr are afraid of nothing – huh?"  
"...We all have fears."  
"...I-I cannot stand that... noise..."  
"Ma'am. I find it appropriate for me to leave now. You need rest. I will find a place of rest elsewhere."  
But just as the tall vaygr man wanted to make the first step, Fenna's voice suddenly sounded behind him, "W-Wait... Pl-Please, don't leave me alone here."  
He stopped and turned his head towards her.  
"I know this sounds - childish... but I wouldn't find rest alone – not with this... dr-dreaded noise." Her voice was full of fear. Ray paused.  
An unfamiliar situation for him, indeed... but she did seem to be in need of... company. She was not a child, he knew that – but it was easy to see that she was a phobic young woman frightened by a cause in her past.  
"If that is what you wish, I shall concur."  
Though detaching some of the bulky components of his suit, most of Ray's body did remain in the suit. Resting was probably the best to do for now. It did not take long until she felt heavy weight on the other side of the bed.  
"R-Ray...", Fenna said and slightly moved herself under his strong arm. "Yes."  
"P-Please don't tell anybody about this... Okay?"  
He looked up upon the ceiling.  
"Agreed."  
"Don't leave..." – within a short moment, Fenna fell into deep sleep while he continuously stared upon the gray ceiling that hollowed eerie noises.


	13. Chapter 13 Awakenings

**Chapter 2 – The Mistrust**

_With the discovery of the incredible form hidden within the thickest wake, Aira's mind is held in astonishment, for this divine discovery was not caused by her innermost desire of her imagination.  
_

Not knowing of what was happening, the rest of the crew kept calm as they awaited the last slow freighter of refugees to dock. Still escorted by two leftover interceptors of the 'Vjel-Amaj' and the vaygr fighter, the heavily damaged freighter drifted ahead. Free of all hostilities due to the AI-controlled torpedo frigates expending their payload and thus holding their positions from afar, the freighter slowly cruised its way ahead to the rally point of the 'Vjel-Amaj' that was only 15 kilometers away and surrounded by six abandoned large frigates.

Meanwhile, the Captain currently was not at the bridge. The ship's status was at condition yellow. Though aware of any visible dangers that could appear, things did seem to be calm. Just a moment ago, the Captain ordered Hailynn to maintain bridge command as he would make his way to the deck where all the refugees were to be detained.

"Hey, Hailey", someone of the bridge crew called out to her, "Alpha One through Four have safely returned", he informed, "According to their status, it looks like they came out of this mess without a scratch."

Letting go of her controls, Hailynn looked over her shoulder, "Understood", and stretched herself arms. Her body was strained from the long and strenuous flight through hyperspace.

"- I hope we will be out of this mess soon", another officer remarked, "and I hope the Hiigaran Navy will pay a decent amount for this mission. The intelligence information was pretty lacking if you ask me. Not even the freelance assignments we took over from the Kiith Somtaaw were this lacking."

"Aye, but it looks like we will be out of this place soon – That is, as soon as that ship would finally dock. Can't that slug fly any faster?"

"Now now...", Hailynn replied calmly and explained, "We will surely learn more of what happened, but all we know for now is that they sustained heavy damage from a single torpodo hit. With our appearance and their despair, the superior of that frigate insisted the others to disband from the group formation for their sake."  
"Well, that explains their slow pace I guess...", the crewman leaned himself against the side of a console, "but that still does not explain what is actually going on here. It was said that we were only supposed to extract hiigarans and the frell out. I cannot believe the Captain actually accepting the vaygr refugees for transferring onboard. To be honest, I would be surprised if none of them were to be insurgents."

"We can count on our security integrity", the other officer proudly confirmed, "I still do wish to know what this assignment is all about. Specifically how this hunt in this forsaken star system actually started and what they will be saying to the Captain."  
Hailynn crossed her arms, her face showing a grudge upon something she observed on a secondary surveillance screen, "Good point, but we will figure that out, sooner or later. Not only that, it's that vaygr pilot out there... who I can't trust. Two years ago, Makaan was defeated and yet we now end up being sent on a rescue mission just to see fleeing hiigaran freighters with a _vaygr_ fighter at the lead – who is concerned about the refugees consisting of his and our people... with _vaygr_ AI-controlled torpedo frigates behind? I don't get who might be behind this with Makaan not even on the lead?"

With a pause, Hailynn and the officer looked at each other, only to conclude their similar thought. With their thoughts leading to the same answer, both simultaneously said, "Remnants."

"This region is not 'far away' from vaygr space, Hailynn. I really don't know what we will do with that vaygr pilot once the freighter arrives. Whatever I am to assume, the Amaji Council will know what to do next once we return back to hiigaran space. This is something politic between ours and other kiithid and I wouldn't want to be in between."

"Call back the two remaining interceptors", she ordered, "We will see what the Captain will decide about that vagyr fighter later, but the earlier those two dock, the better."

"Will do. How will we perform our retreat once the objective has been completed?"

"Now that you remind me", Hailynn remembered, "I will need to have Aira align the navigation system one more time at least to find the escape route to the least denser region. Excuse me please -". Adjusting her headset and intercom device, Hailynn turned herself back to her station and said, "Aira, this is Hailynn. Could you please align navigation one more time? I require a lead destination to the best area for you to be able to plot the jump out of this system."

There was a brief pause – No answer.

Aira heard the familiar voice, but she was startled. Paralyzed by the divine object hidden among the thickest dust cloud, the gigantic ship shaped like a reversed needle slowly moved away from the dense area...  
A majestic Kadeshi Mothership... with a sphere of pure energy focusing at the center of its bow...

"Hey Aira, you copy?", Hailynn repeated, messing around with her headset one more time, "Aaai-raaaaa?"

The fearful girl shivered, stuttering non-understandable words.

"Ma'am", one of the officers within the bridge called out, shortly interrupting her commline.

"What is it?"  
"I am picking up an unidentified faint reading, radiating from 8 o'clock, angle +67° high, approximately 13 klicks from our position away."

"You sure that is not some asteroid?"

"Ma'am, asteroids do not emit this type of energy naturally"

"What type of energy are you reading?"

"It's a focus of ionized energy... Nothing to worry about since it doesn't resemble to be a hyperspace signature, though."

_Strange_, Hailynn thought. Pressing a few keys on a small screen to her left, she wondered what was wrong with Aira. Insisting to see how she was doing, she set her display to show the girl over camera. Just as Hailynn was about to greet her again, she discovered the girl staring with glassy eyes wide open, for sure under the influence of being mentally connected with the sensory station. _Very strange stuff this Bentusi technology was_, she thought again. Nonetheless, Aira was always capable of reacting to her environment, but this time, her startled face and her pale skin gave Hailynn a cold shiver down her spine...

Turning her head to the officer who informed her about focused energy, she nervously asked again, "Did you say... ion?!"

**- Despair... -**

Aira suddenly screamed, her voice shouting in such foreign dialect that nobody could understand. Her sudden scream disturbed the quietness of the bridge as she spoke in agony and despair. Not understanding a word she said, Aira unconsciously spoke desperate pleas to everybody, trying to refer to something out there in space. Unfortunately, her intercom device was not set to outer space communication either. Erratically looking at nearly each crewmember, she tried to tell them something, but they could not understand her as she continued to speak in a very ancient and foreign language.

What ever got her excited, it was definitely serious...

""Get the Captain to the bridge, now! - Freighter Seven, Vaygr pilot -!"", Hailynn shouted immediately, "Scramble immediate-!!"

Blinded by a sudden flash of light, Aira needed to turn her head as a beam of pure energy emitted from the lurking Mothership...

_Too late_.

Without receiving any warning on time, the beam emerged downwards from a very high angle, aiming directly at a certain target. Nothing could stop it as it pierced through the gaseous wake that existed among them... The already crippled freighter's hull busted among its side as the beam violently tore its way through the dorsal portside of the ship. Just barely able to dodge the beam, the Vaygr fighter barely managed to escape the imminent blast wave and countless scraps of busted debris blown everywhere.

Screams were heard as the freighter desperately broadcasted an emergency call, ""Th-This is freigh- minor explosionven We're under attack! We're under attack! Decompression alert - Stabilizers down other voices can be heard, some screaming damage reports - Something just hit the ship! frrrsschhh""

Looking upon the screens viewing the devastating event, the crew of 'Vjel-Amaj' helplessly observed another minor explosion occurring from the port side of the ship.

Entering the commline, the vaygr pilot shouted, ""A damn ion beam just struck the freighter's port bow! The freighter won't - !"".

The freighter pilot interrupted, ""- This is freighter seven... The engineering deck has just informed not understandable voices in the background me that the beams impact has breached through one of the reactor core's infusion conduit...!""

Astonished by his message, Hailynn shouted, ""Jettison the core before it explodes! We can still extract you before -""

""- It is too late – Core meltdown is imminent, rescue command. "", the voice of the freighter pilot called out. Silence filled the bridge of the 'Vjel-Amaj' cruiser. The voice spoke further, "" We realize we are not going to survive this explo- ...alert sounds. For the sake of our people and the lives of the vaygr refugees, please extract them from this misery and return them to safety. The vaygr fighter pilot and his people are not our enemy. _Let not prejudice lead your minds._ Do... Do not intend to perform any rescue attempts. If our lives are the price for the sake of the others, then we will accept our fate... May the gods of Kharak- ""

All went too fast. Fate did not leave them enough time to end their prayers. The transmission ended abruptly as a brief but silent outburst of pure energy occurred. All commline frequencies fuzzed and were immediately terminated with the core's breach. The violent blast wave expanded along with countless parts of debris. Astonished and startled, the crew was still surprised by the sudden attack...

"Freighter seven has been destroyed!", a crewman announced loudly.

"Aira!", Hailynn shouted aggressively, "Where did that beam come from?!"

"From... From... ", the girl stuttered.

"Attention, we have a fusion shockwave coming in straight to our ship!", another officer reported.

"To all decks, brace for impact!"

Within seconds and for a long moment, the ship rumbled and quaked as the blast wave and parts of high velocity debris of various sizes knocked against its hull. Luckily, the explosion had not caused any noticeable damage...

_Awoken from the shock, Aira snapped out of her astonishment. The Kadeshi Mothership was now clearly visible to her... along with several smaller objects emerging fast from its hull.  
_

"Commander Delixa!", somebody shouted, "I am detecting several ultra high frequency beams being focused on our ship... We're being marked!"

"Th-there is something coming towards us... fast...", Aira said quietly to the others.

"What?!"

"Confirmed!", the previous man reported, "Multiple torpedoes inbound. Distance: 9km. Count 12... Correction, 17... 21! "

"For frakking sake, what is attacking us?! Damn it, Aira! Tell us what is out there", Hailynn shouted back.

Hailynn's shout was so intimidating that the adolescent girl became more scared. There was no time for speaking softly, for this situation was very serious.

"It's – Its...!"

"NOW!"

"It is a ship – Mothership of Kadesh!", Aira mispoken.

Just entering the bridge, the Captain barely understood the last part of the sentence. Unlikely to the reaction of the others, he remained calm, not even showing a slight bit of anxiousness.

"A Kadeshi Mothership?", he asked with low and calm voice as he made a few steps further into the bridge.

"Yes sir!", Hailynn said, "I will be engaging a course away from this position – but I'm flying blind here, sir!"

"We will not risk any further. To all stations", the Captain called out to everybody, "Code: Black..."

Astonished by his command, Hailynn questioned him, "- But sir, Aira informed us that such a retreat would be too dangerous. We might get caught under the influence of the black hole's event horizon!"

"We have no other choice I am afraid. The vaygr pilot will have to be left behind. He is a Vaygr. He will survive."

Harsh, but true. Vagyrs are naturally and physically focused on surviving in deep space just by their own ship.

"Our marine teams will still be able to detain the vaygrian refugees, but as your statement before on this contact, Commander: We cannot trust the Vaygr. It is their nature. There is nothing more we can do in this sector. We must escape before the torpedoes can cause severe damage."

Hailynn, who was for sure the first one to mistrust the Vaygr pilot, suddenly remembered the voice of he freighter pilot and what he said... _Let not prejudice lead their mind_s... but without any other remarks, she replied, "Very well, sir... Announcing 'Code: Black' to all decks. Prepare for an emergency _Blindjump_!"

A guilty feeling slowly overcame Hailynn's thoughts. Leaving the vaygr pilot behind to meet his fate did disturbe her somewhat.

Aira's body was becoming anxious again... for soon they would be entering the invisible and violent dimension of unknown ether known as hyperspace. Tormented by the recent attack and the soon occurring blind hyperjump, the young being grabbed her emblemed necklace... squeezing it this time so hard that her hands began to hurt with each pulse.

But only this blind hyperspace jump would either be rescue or pure death... A danger so threatening that she trembled with each moment that passed by. Aira stared at the Kadeshi Mothership... "_Why_...?"

""The jump will be too sudden for our engineering crew to shut down all systems safely, so expect the core to to cause a full powergrid shutdown right after the jump initialization. Navigation and wavefront stabilizer will still be online"", an engineer reported to the whole ship.  
Following at the of the transmission, Hailynn took word, ""- Brace for sudden impact. Code:Black will occur in Ten... nine... eight... seven...""

With every second she counted downwards, Aira and the crew began to hear the deep bass trembling of the hyperspace module and began to feel the ship trembling as it began to emit the flux field for tearing a rift between time and space once again...

""six... five... four... three... two ... one... Hyperjump!""

Aira knew exactly what was going to happen next... with each beat pounding just as hard as the ship's rumble... With a last and heavy rumble, the ship shocked with great intense...

..., she opened her eyes again... The ship immediately stopped rumbling.

Something must have gone wrong...


	14. Chapter 14 Chains of Command

...slop.. slap... slap...  
The bare feet of the kadeshi girl gently slapped upon the cold flat floor that faintly shimmered in silver and rusted brown, as she quietly walked ahead throughout a wide corridor. Sounds of sliding cords hanging from arm accompanied her steps.  
Only her arms and her emblem clothing showed trace of the overgrown verdant region of hydroponics she recently left behind her, marked and blotched by several scratches and red marks foreboding allergic reactions and stains.  
Despite the vast depth of the ship riddled with innumerable misleading corridors, narrow paths and sections she never had been before, her mind nonetheless sensed the true way, least guided by the voice she had chosen to trust. The once intense smell of plants had vanished since then, leaving her nose to breathe the harsh past of death held by the remains of rotted skeletons.  
With her mind influenced by Shodanii, the perception of her surroundings is left ignored, despite the numbers of shot corpses, holes done by projectile weapons and brown leftovers of biomasses among her path...

**Chapter 14 – Chains of Command**

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn-aahh", Kenta yawned with a tired voice. Sitting among the group of the main shift, they all sat outside amongst the perimeter of the huge cruiser that rested upon the scaffolding region.  
Despite the lights emitting from all posts throughout the settlement camp that bugged her morning-weary eyes and the small 'camp-fire' they circled, the whole area was still as dark as the night. All of the operatives wore outdoor coats.

"Brrr", she quivered, feeling the slight cold of the air, "Man, didn't they say it was supposed to be warm?!"

"You're confusing things, sis'", Quan noted, "- that was that botanical area that had some problem with its environmental control systems. The only thing these two places have in common is the bad... smell..."

"Ugh. Stop reminding me about it..."

Kenta took a short sip from her coffee and tried to keep her nose close to its hot smell. Due to the cause of the main shift not being needed at the bridge, a skeleton crew maintained bridge operations as the rest 'enjoyed' their stay elsewhere. Looking around shortly, she eavesdropped other conversations of those probably talking about the latest gossips of the morning, however with nothing really interesting other than what she already heard of, such as Aira's 'missing in action' status. Her view turned away to the constant work of men and women among the hull of the cruiser and of the settlement camp. Every now and then, faint shouts and the noise of equipment hollowed throughout the scaffold area.  
Flashes and sparks of blowtorch workings randomly sparkled among the hull of the ship. The thoughts of amaji woman wandered off.

_What a weird trip this whole adventure is..._

Meanwhile, somewhere within the cruiser...

"Hailey – I dunno if this is a good idea, y'know...", Kaydaana reminded her. Hailynn however insisted to try walking on her own as they entered the primary cargo bay of the Vjel-Amaj, the main section that offered the most space that was currently occupied by the 'Hive' mining ship and two of its remaining 'Bee' harvesters. Combined with the noise emitting from all sides of the large ship, it was easy to comply that the 'Hive' was still refining the gathered content, easily heard by the constant pulsing clattering of its internal ducts, processing units and furnace segment.

The air was hot and rather dense with an intense smell of burnt materials and oil that some would call the _smell of somtaaw sweat_.

Still swaying back and forth, the female commander fought with her balance as she made her way past the groups of working men and women of Asad's and Pethera's crew.  
There were several mixed groups of liirhrali and nabaali workers and scientists examining ore components and other extracted minerals There was a faint feeling of being on rival turf, but she forced herself ahead – She desperately wanted to confront Asad. Rather chasing Hailynn's trail, Kaydaana forced herself to stick to her.

Mixed few of mining subordinates threw confused faces at her – but once again, these glances were alike those she had seen among her way to this section.  
Several minutes ago had other fellow crewmembers looked upon Hailynn with the same worried glance. Some even avoided crossing eye contact with her... but finally, she had found the man she had been searching for who stood within a group of others. Remaining hidden behind the group, Hailynn insisted to eavesdrop the conversation. He did not sound pleased at all as he spoke loudly, trying to overlay the loud clatter:

"Are you kidding me?! Nothing but this... ROCK – This little piece of junk is the only thing you found to be valuable after refining tons of sediment we gathered from that comet?!"

"Yes, CEO", a nabaali cooperative replied to him, "but I still should remind you that we have performed deep scans as you demanded during our voyage through it. You will not believe it but the comet was _filled_ with thousands of enriched fields ... We only happened to harvest at the wrong spot. We were not able to detect them at first since we were pursued by the vaygr. But about this find, I was not pleased to find this... thing, either."

He raised his hand, revealing a strangely formed metallic object.

"We've checked its elemental component. It's 'Carbonite XII', CEO."

"Carbonite-Twelve?? Hmpf...", Asad grumbled, "Well – did not expect to find that useless low class crap of ore so far away from the western galaxy. Damn, it's not valuable at all..."

"I don't understand?", another liirhrali asked, "I thought carbonite is valuable, at least it sounds like it with that... twelve...".

"The number only classifies its type – and as of such 'twelve', this small worthless flat rock is just some kind of super rare ore that only exists in the Western Galaxy region - among the Turanic Kingdom and that whacked and wicked Kadeshi space", Asad smirked and wove his hand a few times, "Primarily used as armor plating for those type of ships, but as far as I know of Metallurgy, this stuff is merely useless. Hyper-Carbonite is what would have made us rich men, but we must have had bad luck. Anyways, the interior structure of this simple carbonite can easily be ruptured by anything. That is what those veteran stories said from historical data chips. Those puny kadeshi had all of their ships made of that material - Vulnerable to any type of projectile. But anyways, we can forget about purifying the rest of this waste. Nobody would buy it – Frell, we'd have to pay bidders to bid for this. – So. Have that junk we gathered from the comet to be jettisoned as soon as possible - and could you PLEASE dump that stupid rock."

"Hmm", the other nabaali hummed, "I guess this rock _is_ the proof that that comet was coming from the Kadeshi region, or, sir? I mean, there does seem to be a connection."

"C'mon – now you're starting to sound like that little girl. Listen, just leave the scientific report of the comet's content to Pethera and drop the kadeshi stuff."  
The nabaali hesitated.

"Hey, what's with you?", Asad noted with an annoyed voice.

"- This is still... a historical object of such – I don't think we should --"

"Just get RID of it!"

"But – sigh Yes, sir..."

"That's funny, a nabaali worrying about myths. Nabaali don't believe in myths! Now then, explain more of those scans now, will you!", Asad demanded with greater interest.

"I think I can explain more about it, CEO", the liirhrali prospector intervened and pulled out one of the printed foils from his folder,

"When we first began to harvest within the comet, we only left our surveillance systems to passively scan the region. – But let me cut this short - Detailed analysis of these scans and spectral photography show that we were merely surrounded by unimaginable amount of fields consisting of minerals and elements unknown to the knowledge of our elemental periodic system. Not much of the 'Hyper-Carbonite' you previously mentioned, but much more tons of known and _unknown_ heavy elements concealed by the comet's corona - CEO, do you know what _this_ means?"

Several moments went by until Asad began to understand what the cooperative was referring to, "Wait. You mean..."

"Yes, CEO."

"This is... outrageous!", the paktu mining executive said loudly and slapped his right fist upon his palm, "Brothers and sisters of the Kiith, brethren, this is an astonishing FIND for our corporation! If not - for the whole Kiith Amaj!"  
Several among the group looked at each other with puzzled faces.

"Another good news, by the way, is that the energy field harvest we performed before our second harvest within the comet is a class seven yield. We can expect a _very high_ trade value from any Bentusi Trader."

"This is getting better and better. The captain will be pleased to hear of this as well. All of you, this is good news!", Asad proudly announced, "This star system is a filled with treasures – and we will make sure we will take them! Once the Kiith Amaji knows of this, they will surely submit us higher kiithid supremacy to endure a cooperative mining fleet to this sector! But once this word spreads out to other kiithid – This would probably unleash a Kiithid Mine Rush! And not only that once we--"

"Ah-HAHAHAHAgasp-AhahahAHA..."

Interrupting laughter of a woman was heard behind the group. Spreading away, the group slackened to offer open view to a familiar hiigaran officer whose stained uniform jacket was wide open and standing in a rather arrogant pose with crossed arms. Asad's face immediately frowned as he was not pleased to see her...

"Ah... It is you... Missy. What brings you here?!"

Hailynn shook her head several times, "I told you to stop calling me that, stupid paktu. That was the most idiotic phrase I ever heard. 'Unleashing a Kiithid Mine Rush'?! Never heard of such crap in one sentence."

Views turned over to Asad as he answered, "Hmpf, you don't seem to know anything of the Amaj, do you, Missy? The Kiith Amaj is a weak kiith among many. The kiithid operatives of my corporation are loyal to the Amaj, but you don't seem to understand anything at all – or what will happen once word is spread. The Amaj lacks political and economical power. What does the Amaj have, huh, Missy? A single Hiigara-like dwarf planet, pathetically defended by the colony ship among its orbit and a fleet of little ships... with this cruiser being the largest –oh, not to forget how many times the Amaj was forced to sacrifice mining regions to maintain their 'freedom'. Hey, take the Somtaaw, for example. Do you see any of them onboard or within the Amaji Council? Do you think we can rely on those Manaani, too?"

"Watch yer mouth, punk...", a female manaani accented voice snitched from further away.

"Once this word is out, you can count on a rush, Missy. And I'm sure you are not going to like it..."

"Yeah... right.", Hailynn replied with a bored voice and began to approach him – albeit with weary and awkward steps, "The Kiith Amaj does not stand for that crap, Asad! And you think they will find everything in this system so easily?!"

"That is OUR advantage, woman! Other loyal corporations would support us with protection!"

"Advantage?! Oh, so you have the plans – the cartography – frell, even the authority to find the comet - again?!"

Asad paused, "Doesn't matter – We'll just... fly back into it. Map-whatever -"

"You... damned... IDIOT -- ngh!"

Hailynn suddenly tried to charge at him but unfortunately misplaced her step, embarrassingly causing her to trip aside to floor. Obviously, her balancing failed her once again.

"What are you – drunk? Stay away from me, Missy!"  
She fought trying to get back up but was forced to stay upon her knees.

"We've lost several lives just because you decided to frakk the comet -!"

"Ahh - Don't worry about them. Their deaths and efforts/i will be remembered. My corperation offers lucrative life insurances for all contracted operatives to ensure financial security of their surviving families. And the Bentusi will surely be happy with the high-yield harvest we have. Even your account will feel some of its riches. So... just... relax – and do what... those hiigaran women _normally_ would do rather than flying big ships while we stick to our business, okay?"

As the words reached her ears, Hailynn could not believe what he just said. This man truly was a ruthless and greedy entrepreneur whose eyes only seek true profit, no matter the cost – no matter the sacrifices needed.  
However, his words about the Kiith Amaj immolated even more hate within her. He did not care at all when the Kadeshi Mothership struck upon the refugee freighter – even less for the lives lost within the comet. This was it. No longer could she withstand his ignorance and disrespectfulness.

"FRAKK YOU – I should just shoot you HERE AND NOW for that --!", she shouted suddenly and made a reach for the side of her hip. All of the operatives jumped back as they instinctively reacted to her movement of quick-drawing a sidearm.

Unfortunately, Hailynn's grip ended in an empty holster. She forgot that her sidearm was elsewhere and not available.  
DAMN...

**chik-chshk**

Throwing an astonished look ahead, her eyes met the shaking chromed muzzle of a military sidearm held by Dr. Asad. Obviously, he was surprised by her sudden but unthoughtful attempt. However, he reacted in such a manor Hailynn did not expect at all. She did not have the single clue how he managed to receive a standard military-issued handgun. It was not hers, though. It took a while until she calmed down as she stared upon the gunpoint.

Reacting immediately, Kaydaana pulled her sidearm as well, "Hey! Put da crap down!"

"Kaydy – no...!", Hailynn demanded to her, showing her hand to stay out of it.

"Dunno what's going on in that head of yours, Missy –You're out of your mind! But whatever you think – we won't care. Believe it or not, woman. Mark my words: We _will_ return to that comet - To this system, some day – and there will be nothing to stop us or the Kiith Amaj! Why don't you follow what your kiith stands for?!"  
Hailynn panted slightly, a slight fatigue kept her on her knees,

"If... If I've understood things right – We've done another uncharted blind jump, paktu... There is no CHANCE you'll find that comet! Don't ever think you will – Not even the best somtaaw prospector would find it again!"

"No... but as I said, mark my words, woman. _Matter of time_, Missy, matter-of-time... Would be easier if we would just force that whack-minded kadeshi girl – but we can forget about that totally after what you have done to her!"

Now it was Hailynn who suddenly became startled.

"What?!"

Asad still aimed for her, albeit her being defenseless, "Did you forget what happened? The girl surely could help us out here and now, but ever since you've frakked her upside the head, she's been out of commission ever since!"  
Only a brief picture deep within Hailynn's mind recalled itself to reality. The instant flashback fell too short for her to understand it completely. However, she did recall an image of Aira weeping and hurt upon the floor... Her eyes however widened.

"There will be a lot happening once we return to amaji space. You can count on that one, woman."

"Frakk that – What happened to Aira?! What are you trying to say about me and her?!", Hailynn demanded. Asad remained quiet but shook his head several times.

"Hailey-", Kaydaana suddenly said behind her as she lowered her aim.

"Kaydy, what is he talking about?!"

"I wasn't there, Hailey... but... rumors say..."

"WHAT?!"

"They say yah punched the poor girl by anger... and she became unconscious... She ended up at sickbay, soon followed by yah after becomin' outraged and outta control. It was said yah needed heavy medication 'n' stuff..."

Within the same second, a world collapsed within Hailynn's mind. It was the dreaded conclusion that suddenly explained everything. The hole in her memory suddenly made sense.  
The drugs, the outrage, her somewhat still hurting hand, the nightmare she suffered from for nearly two days, the fearful and worried glances of others and lastly, her amnesia.

Hailynn's glare stared up upon Kaydaana.

The stunned hiigaran woman threw her hands upon her head in a strange manor, "Oh no... _she is back..._"

"Huh? Who?! Who's this 'she' yah keep talkin' about, Hailey?!", Kaydaana asked once more, but did not receive an answer.

"H-Hey, everybody. Could we just... calm down here?", one of the liirhrali operatives suggested, "I know there is a bit of tension going on – but please... Let's not start shooting each other... long pause Okay?"

"Kaydy – Where is Aira?! Where IS she?! Tell me where she is!", Hailynn hysterically shouted at the manaani woman several times.

"Wha-whoa Hailey, calm down! She's - "

"-- Where?!"

"I don't really know... Hailey. But, Hailey, you really blew the lights out of her – big time..."

Hailynn's arms slid down from Kaydaana's hip in humiliation.

"I-I... I need to find her..."

"You two", Asad's voice suddenly spoke from ahead, "I think it's best you two should just get the frell out and let us do our work. Get lost and don't come back – and the rest of you, get back to work."

Moments passed by with the endless noise of purification processors. Many of the group slowly moved away from them, doing as Asad demanded to carry on with their duties. Helping Hailynn get to her feet, Kaydaana once again held her by her shoulder.  
All odds were against Hailynn. As both of the women slowly made their way out, Hailynn suddenly pointed her hand to one of Asad's crewmen, "Hey – You – Wait!"

Turning around, the man revealed himself holding the strange small object in his hands.

"Wait, you are that nabaali that gave that report to that paktu, I am right?"

"...Yes... Commander", he did not sound very trustful.

"Listen... I've noticed... your reaction about destroying that piece of rock."

The nabaali engineer raised his hand once more, revealing the rock her held but hesitated to say a word.

"Look", Hailynn proposed with deep breaths in between, "I know it is not common for you nabaali to believe in... _religious_ ...things, but you have doubts about destroying this things, don't you?"

The man paused once more.

"...Don't you?"

Surprisingly, the nabaali made a quiet nod. Though accepting the kushan heritage and its beliefs, those of the Kiith Naabal today are alike the way they used to be. Alike the prominent Kiith Somtaaw, they have dropped their heavy beliefs to endorse pure trade and mining. Both kiithid however never seemed to come along.

"It's not that I believe in that story of that comet... but it is a rare proof that it is from the other side of the galaxy... ma'am. It should be in a museum. A souvenir – whatever. I deny to destroy it, but I have my orders from the CEO."  
Without any other words, Hailynn offered an open hand. The naabali engineer did hesitate at first, but his hand slowly laid the strange object upon her hand.

"Ma'am – I don't really care that much what happens to it, but just don't destroy it, okay?"

"You have my word...", she replied and laid the strange flat rock into her pocket.

Just as they continued, Hailynn raised her head again with a shocked face. A very guilty feeling filled her soul.

"H-Hailey, what's wrong?", Kaydaana suddenly asked.  
Hailynn grabbed her shoulder radio and called out, "Hailynn to Aira! Hailynn to Aira! Aira, p-please answer me!"  
Receiving nothing but a hiss among the dead commline, Hailynn immediately changed her frequency, "Hailynn to Logistics! Come in, now!"

""ffhsk -- Logistic Officer Geron, here. What is wrong, Co-- ?""

"Aira's positioning, NOW!", Hailynn shouted as she became more anxious all the sudden.

""-Err, yes, m-ma'am. Hold on... Uhm... No... She's not in intercom range...She is no longer onboard the ship, ma'am. Actually, she beyond the --""

"WHAT?!"

""—Err, last was she seen outside on the settlement camp, but after that--sh-click""

Hailynn immediately broke the comm-link. Releasing herself from Kaydaana's shoulder, the hiigaran officer suddenly charged ahead in a sloppy manner.

"H-Hailey- Wait-up!"

**- Confessions -**

(Narrative voice)  
As of those people we know, we all think we know all about our trusted brethren besides us... Yet there is always more to the truth of those people... leading to fact that we never knew them well enough.  
(End of narrative speech)

For the next ten minutes, Hailynn frequently ran throughout many corridors of the ship as she frantically asked those among the way for the whereabouts of the kadeshi girl, vainly. Hailynn needed to stop. Being over-exhausted, the weary and sloppy looking officer fell to floor all the sudden just before she reached the nearby airlock section.  
After a short while, Kaydaana finally caught up with her...

"D-Damn it, Ha-Hailey...!", she cursed, "pant You know... exactly that... huh?"

Kaydaana's face startled as she discovered Hailynn trying to hide her tears. A surprise indeed, due to the fact that she always saw Hailynn as a strong 'opponent'. However, Kaydaana did suppose that Hailynn's emotions were lead by whatever hormones and drugs she received...

Throwing her hair back, Hailynn fought herself up and made her way to the outside of the ship. Ignoring the cold air and its unpleasant smell, the sorrow-hearted officer ran down the ramp, bypassing the marine sentries and entering the dark world of the scaffold and the settlement camp ahead.

Almost around the same moment, Kenta suddenly lifted her head when she suddenly heard a familiar loud voice shouting nearby and coming closer from the center of the settlement.

"Huh, who's that?", Kelsea asked and lifted herself from the 'campfire', "Isn't that --".

Hailynn suddenly appeared next to the group shouted Aira's name several times in all directs into the dark.

"C-Commander?", an operative asked with a surprised voice...  
Turning around once more, Hailynn discovered the many familiar faces of the main shift...

"Well, well", Pethera said with a dismissive and ironic tone to her, "What's wrong, _commander_, looking for a child to beat yet again?"

Hailynn did not answer. She was too exhausted – but additionally to her weariness, the sorrow for Aira caused her to fall to the cold floor.

"M-Ma'am, are you all right?!", Quan asked and wanted to help her, but she declined.

"Hailey! Where're – Ah, there yah are -", Kaydaana appeared from behind, but stop as she discovered Pethera among the group that surrounded the 'campfire'.

"I see, you brought the preckbird with you..."  
"Shut up, Pethera pant - I'm not in the mood for your crap", Hailynn denoted angrily.

"Everybody! C-Calm down!", Kenta said loudly and stood up, but as the whole group threw their view upon the young amaji woman, she forced herself back down to the case she sat upon,

"I-I mean, calm down... ma'ams?"

"You don't need to call for that foolish kadeshi storyteller", Pethera remarked, "You beat her so hard that she just ran off. Probably afraid to ever see you again."  
Hailynn remained wordless but looked over to the others.

"S-She's right", another female operative said from the said,

"Aira left us, ma'am. Ma'am – do you need help --?"

"Don't look at them, Delixa. Aira is gone. She just walked away. Away from this camp, the ship and you. We've recently heard and saw some of that footage that showed you beating up the girl and I have a question for you, Delixa", Pethera was taking the advantage that Hailynn was weak and in a bad position to defend herself, "I think all of us deserve the truth of why you _reacted_ like that. "

"I'm not --"

"Oh, yes, you should, and I'm sure you _will_..."

The weakened hiigaran woman was about to deny saying a word, but suddenly, Hailynn discovered that there was no way out of this. Pethera's persuasive questioning was invoking the interest of the others while it quietly slandered Hailynn's reputation. She was forcing the small crowd to dig the truth out of Hailynn.

The s'jet woman made a step ahead as she spoke further, "You amazed all of us, Delixa, with your disrespectful and irresponsible actions. You are the one who sent this undermanned ship to this system – with all of its dangers! You are the one who should be taking full responsibility of all that has happened up to now, hiigaran. Don't blame me, I'm in charge of something else...", Pethera's voice became so loud that it attracted other groups nearby," How could punch a defenseless young girl just for doing a simple mistake?! What were you thinking of when you shouted to your crew, huh, Delixa?!"

Her words was equal alike a painful punch to Hailynn... emotionally. Kenta wanted to intervene, but her shyness made her stay back.  
"You are a SHAME for the Kiith Amaj and its ideals! You _disgust_ us. Look at you!"  
Hailynn wanted to defend herself but she had no chance at all. The innermost of Pethera was enjoying this with great pleasure. Her verbal harassments were coming through to Hailynn, striking her deeply.  
This was payback time, but Pethera was nowhere near the end. The humiliation was unbelievable as the black haired s'jet stood high above the sloppy looking commander of the Kiith Amaj.

"I have never seen such disgrace - You are a _shame_ in that uniform! Look-at-you, you child-beating DRUG ADDICT! And you are supposed to be the 'Commander'?! Now, Delixa – We all want to know: Why did you react like this?! Why did you beat the girl?! Answer us now! Or even more: How could a rare 'Grade: A' woman possibly deny colonial terms to end up in a military uniform like this?!"

Many of the bystanders threw astonished faces. Never was it known to anybody else that Hailynn was a considerable 'A', unlike the common average men and women with flawed or mediocre grade classing.

However, Pethera subtle remarks were revealing secrets of Hailynn's past, one after another as she mocked further – and there was no way in stopping her. Hailynn knocked her fist on the cold hard floor and curled it so tightly that it hurt intensively – The s'jet continued her harassments that were misguiding the crowd's interest. Pethera now had here where she wanted her to finish her off.

"-- Go ahead, tell your crew everything, Delixa! Tell your trusted crew why you reacted like this! Tell them the cause for your reaction!"

Moments passed once more, but this time, Kenta gathered some courage, "Stop it – Stop all of this!", the young operative shouted, "This is insane! Please – stop it all --!".  
But it was too late.

Hailynn's soul shattered.  
There was no way getting out of this. Hailynn was a wreck. Only previously had she accepted the fact that the Kiith Amaj was falling into the dreaded greed and need as Asad presumed... and now, the crew would soon know everything of the secrets she fought to keep it that way. But from now on, she could no longer hide it.

The sweat upon her face, her somewhat drenched and messed-up hair, and her movements – All showed that she was suffering the aftermath of her addiction. Indeed, she was wreck that lost her self-esteem and trust. Hailynn's voice sobbed as she kept her head down, "...It.. sniff It's all... true..."

The s'jet threw an unseen smile hidden by the surrounding darkness.

"It is all true", Hailynn continued to hide her face as she explained with a sorrow voice, "I-I... I am a Commander of the Amaji Navy... with an addiction to... to 'cortisine'. It is all true – I am a drug pause addict."

Her frail voice was only a slight hint on how deeply embarrassed she was as she spoke, "But all of it doesn't explain why I hurt... Aira...", her fist tightened once more, "I did not know what was happening to me... until my addiction took full control ... and unleashed the _other side_ of me."

Pethera's eyebrow rose. Where was this leading?

"I thought I had control – but I can no longer hide it. I... I have a second... personality..."

Hailynn took a deep breath and cleared her voice before she confessed, "I am schizophrenic..."

Even Kaydaana seemed to be surprised. She thought she knew all of about Hailynn but she was wrong. However, it seemed as if this was the 'she' Hailynn had frequently referred to... and feared.

"Yes. It is true. I have a psychological issue... and I lost control of myself. My anger and my addiction caused me to attack Aira. It... It was still 'me' – not just some personality... but another _twisted_ type of me... A _dangerous_... side of me. It is true that I am a dangerous person..."

Several of the main bridge crew who witnessed her actions upon the bridge remembered how devastating she actually was.  
Hailynn rubbed her face several times, "I've accused all of you as the cause of all trouble on this operation. I've blamed and insulted every single one of you for... all the madness that has caused during our mission. I said I hated all of you and that you all were worthless scum... long pause - I cannot demand any apology... It is I who is responsible for the ship and the losses, not the captain. My deeds must be left inexcusable..."

"C-...Commander?", Kenta said softly.

"Kenta. No. I am not worth to be a commander. I failed deeply. I may be a highly ranked officer, but what is an officer without any true kiithid authority, anyways? All you have the authority of Kiith Amaj. Maybe not any significant standing but you all have one... however, I don't... My name may hold a kiithid name, my rank may serve the Amaj, but I am truly a nobody – A kiith-less nobody once I leave service – and when I board the ship again, I will hand in my resignation from command and duty."

Everybody saw Hailynn as a proud officer in the line of duty, but the truth of her true self was not what they have expect. A person alike her, without any kiithid authority, will indeed be worth of nothing once he or she were to end their military career.

"No!", Kenta shouted and lifted herself from the rest of the group, "No, Commander Delixa... Hailynn... I cannot – and will not – accept what you are saying!"

Everybody remained quiet albeit the noise of the ongoing maintenance upon the hull of the ship.

"Hailynn – We... well... I... simply cannot accept that you have failed us... We are not perfect... None of us are. True – your reaction has... shocked all of us... but you must understand that the least of us... that I still trust you... ma'am!"

"I stand aside to the word of my sister, Commander", Quan suddenly remarked and lifted himself next to her, "It doesn't matter to us – at least the two of us – what flaws you have. It doesn't matter if you were nabaali, paktu or even somtaaw... or a kiith-less person."

"We are all kushans... after all. "

"My sister is right. If I may say, we amaji are weak. Our young kiith needs leaders like you - We all look up to you... Comman- Hailynn –"

"There is one thing for what the Kiith Amaj stands for: Freedom. We were all burn-marked with former kiithid breeding regulations that tried to force all of us into colonial obligations but at last we have gained our liberty! Hailynn, you may belong to the few Hiigara-born among us but you know that Hiigara is no longer your homeworld. Amaj VII is our homeworld – yes, a small, weak dot surrounded by dangerous borders and factions just waiting to invade us – but that is _our_ homeworld. Your _true_ homeworld! And with it, I pledged loyalty to my fellow brethren with pride...!", Kenta said loudly and formed a tight fist, "Never will I bear grudge to you... I simply can't. If you want to confess – fine. I shall do the same..."

All eyes looked upon Kenta, "- Who am I? Well, I'm a nobody as well. I am a 'Grade: L', below average, good-for-nothing grade to even receive any hope – Every other kiithid said I was good for nothing. Apparently, I was not 'fertile enough' for them to actually serve anywhere. I am the lowest grade... L for loser, as some would say. Everybody onboard knew that there was only one L around – but I kept it as a secret... I am that 'Grade: L'. Anybody below is not onboard this ship... and there was no future for me until I met you, Hailynn. It was people like you who gave me new hope – Those who left their former kiith joined our kiith, to support us who are in desperate needs."

The amaji operative shook her head several times. Already confessing her grade showed her bravery but also her innermost shame for her 'weak genes offset'. The Kiith Amaj only had received its independency only two years ago. Long before, everybody's lifestyle and future was controlled by the colonial terms of the major kiithid. Albeit its vulnerable positioning, the Daiamiid of Hiigaran Empire declared the suppressed Amaji star system for independency. An unusual decision, though, for none of the amaji really knew the true intention.

"'Rare 'Grade: J' here", Kelsea added suddenly and laid both hands upon her lap as she cowered her view, "Those I would have given birth to would not survive beyond the span of five months... Immunity deficiency. I am the only 'J' ever in my family..."

"E", one male operative added, "May be one of them 'Top Fives'... but trust me, you don't want to know what it stands for – I hate it. I wish never to be forced to donation again..."

During the next few moments, others began to say single letters resembling their grade. Many bashfully held their grade as part of their intimacy at first, but as others revealed theirs, they followed.  
Pethera however bit her teeth together. Somehow, things were not going the way she expected. The present crew was still holding to Hailynn, the sworn enemy who she deeply hated.

All the sudden, Hailynn turned her head over to Kaydaana, after the athletically built manaani woman said her grade. Her mentioned grade practically ended all speech – but not only did Hailynn seem to be astonished. It was Kenta who actually could not believe her ears. Now Kaydaana was the one who had all attention on her.  
Quietly moving closer to Hailynn, she sat down next to the shattered hiigaran woman and slowly explained her part of her story:  
"I expected yer reactions, everybody... Kenta is right... and wrong, though. 'L' is a terrible grade one could get... but there are further classifications below... for us manaani. None of y'all would expect it, but I used to be an 'Unshi..."

"- Ehhh, you are a an 'unshi?!", one of the male operatives asked with a heightened voice, "A... princess?! A manaani -- ?!"

"-- Princess of the Kiith Manaan. First Daughter of Kiith'Sa", Kaydaana continued with her accented tone, "by tha' mercy of our divinity..."

"A manaani with such high authority – HERE?? On an amaji ship at the far edge close to anarchic factions?! You've got to be kidding..."

The confessing manaani woman rose her head, "Yah may feel impressed... but what is a kiith manaani'unshi with a 'Grade: Z'... The sole divinity may have blessed me with skills none of y'all really have... but cursed me with one of the most dreadful things that could happen to a manaan."

"Infertility...", Hailynn quietly said, "I never knew... Kaydy."  
Indeed, the worst was said. While all grade classifications beyond 'L' stood for difficulties of all kinds, the last letter in the alphabet stood for the worst of the worst: incurable infertility. Up to now, everybody heard that she was a 'Grade: C'... probably a lie to hide her true status...

"B-but... if you are a... princess... I-", the operative stuttered and bowed down suddenly, "'Unshi of the manaan – Please don't punish me for the all the jokes I said about you! I am not worthy! I am --"

"Knock't off... I may used to be an 'unshi... but alike Hailey next to me... I've lost all of mah kiithid authorities. The rule of divinity punishes those manaan with kiithid excommunication who do not fulfill the purpose of the caste they are born into. What's an 'unshi worth of it she cannot give new life? And this is not a rule of some colonial term – It has been like that ever since the Kiith Manaan existed. If one cannot seed new life, thou shall not rule. Never shall mah soul return to the Manaan... ever. It's been nearly twenty years now... and I'm 47 years old... I'm still flyin' fighters. The Amaji Navy is the only thing I can stand for..."  
Unlike other kiithid, the Kiith Manaan still held to its religious roots and caste. Hailynn began to understand certain things. There was a lot more to the 'childish' rivalry between them. Kaydaana must have envied her for both age and 'Grade: A', which she probably knew already.  
"- And I'm not lettin' yah _get away_ with it... _Old lady_", the confessing manaani quietly noted to Hailynn.

Pethera slowly began to move away. Hailynn was gaining the sympathy of everybody...

"Don't you see, Commander? We all stand behind you... Aira may fear you, but she still... likes you – I'm sure of that..." Kenta lastly remarked, hoping Hailynn to understand their notions.  
But at the same moment as Hailynn started to trustful feelings for the crew, the sudden voice of a familiar logistic officer spoke over her radio unit, ""To all executive and commanding officers of the ship fffshhh : All of you are to meet up at the Captain's Quarters. The captain wishes to see Ray, leader of the exiling vaygrs, as well. Logistics, over and out ffshhk""

Least expected but it happened, it seemed as if the captain heard of Hailynn's awakening and now it probably was the time for standing to her deeds. Slowly lifting both of themselves up, both Kaydaana and Hailynn looked at each other shortly.

"I don't know, Kenta", Hailynn said to the rest of them as the two began to walk away, "I think it is inevitable that I will be removed from command and duty, sooner or later – It simply doesn't matter. It is likely that the captain will remove me now. I am sorry – to all of you – but I fear I must resign. The least I can do..."

Hailynn stopped shortly and took another look at the part of the crew that stared back upon her. After a short hesitation, the words left Hailynn's lips before she turned away again, "_Thank you..._"

**- The real 'McQueton' -**

(Narrative voice)  
The kiith supremacy and the kushan laws it follows always stood above the military authority. All beings of all kiithid must obey the supremacy. One may be in the military authority with given privileges and may lay their burdens – but never could he or she lose, forfeit or deny the privileges given by the supremacy of the kiith. That is the way of the kiith.  
(End of narrative speech)

Almost twenty minutes later...  
Both Hailynn and Kaydaana have not said a single word to each other as they made their way throughout the ship, but just as they reached the executive deck, the manaani colonel decided to break the silence between them, "Y'know, Hailey, what happened just ah while ago will soon be known throughout the ship."

Again, the silence returned shortly as Hailynn did not reply at first. Right now, her thoughts circled around the whereabouts of Aira.

"Kay', tell me. Where are we here?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. We're docked onboard some ol' derelict imperial taiidan mothership that is some hundred years ol'."

"...What, imperials! How'd we get here and what are imperials doing here?!"

"It all has to do with Aira and the person who led us here. There seems to be one survivor onboard. Don't yah ask me who or how. All I know is that she wants to help us."

At last, both women reached the entrance to the captain's quarters. Hesitating to enter, Hailynn stood in front of the access doors. Judgment awaited her behind...

"How do I look?"

Kaydaana shook her head. She still was a wreck.

"Woman... Look't yah..."

"I know, I know sigh"  
Reaching over with both hands, Kaydaana took the attempt to shape Hailynn up, by first closing her stained uniform jacket and her messed-up hairdo. Rearranging everything was hardly possible.  
"Gonna be tough, Hailey – Jus'... keep tough..."

Gathering all that was left of her courage, Hailynn took a deep a breath before her finger pressed the panel to open the access doors. Entering at the same time, both officers moved ahead into the spacious quarter of the captain.  
The captain's bunk was indeed huge. Ahead stood a row of familiar officers and executives who shortly took a glimpse behind their shoulders. Obviously, it was clear that Hailynn and Kaydaana were late. Kaydaana smiled shortly as she discovered the tall vaygr pilot among them. Orelis was also present.  
Clearing her voice, Hailynn announced, "Commander Delixa and Lieutenant Colonel Kaydaana reporting as order, sir."

"Pride. At ease. Please, align yourselves.", the superior officer replied.

Rowing themselves in, Hailynn insisted to add a comment,

"Captain. I must... apologize for my appearance."

"No worries about that, Commander."

Short moments of silence went by as the whole row stood in front of the large table of the captain.  
"Ladies. Gentlemen. I am pleased to see all of you. Chief Falgore and Engineer Zann will not be with us since they insisted to maintain the ship. As for all of you, we have several circumstances needed to be discussed..."  
Suddenly, Hailynn took a step forward, "Captain... permission to speak, sir."  
She kept her firm glance.

"Very well, Commander. Granted."

"Thank you, sir. I... I wish to cut myself short: I wish to resign from command and duty with immediate effect -"  
Excluding the captain and Ray, the rest of the row threw startled reactions.

"- I am fully aware of my senses and my negative actions in the line of duty. My act was disrespectful to the crew and the captain. I... I can no longer serve you with this shame, sir. An apology is not suffiecient."

"Commander", the captain replied with his usual calm voice, "I am afraid I must and will deny your resignation."  
"S-Sir?"

The captain leaned back.  
"Commander. I am aware of the certain causes that occurred the last two days, but you must understand that I cannot let you resign. It is impossible."  
"I... I do not understand, sir. I --"

"I have a question to those who know me", the captain said,

"Commander, the rest of you, do you know who I am?"

Hailynn paused. The captain's words filled her mind with confusion.

"Sir?"

"Commander, what do you know of me? Who am I?"

Though confused, she insisted to answer. Within a single second, Hailynn's mind recalled all of what she knew of him, from the very first handshake to this very moment, the day they first met, the journey and dangerous events they both experienced during the last years of the vaygr war – back then when she was his subordinate helmsman onboard a nimble assault frigate in a small fleet of ships.

"You are...", she made a short glimpse to Orelis and the others,

"You are Captain Quenton of the Kiith Amaj, chief-in-command of the 'Vjel-Amaj'."

"What else do you know...?"

"You are a highly experienced naval officer... and you belong to the only few the Kiith Amaj has, sir", Orelis insisted to add, "It is always more than an honor to serve under your command."  
The other executives and officers gave short comments as well. They all remarked what they knew about him. Yet, something seemed to disturb Hailynn.

After another long pause, Captain Quenton arose himself from his seat.

"Fellow officers, executives. All this time, we have served together. It has been an honor for me as well. But I fear my service has come to an end."

"Err... Sir?!", Orelis asked suddenly.

"Captain, why do say this?", Hailynn questioned as well with a note of astonishment in her voice.

"Due to the end of the _contract_ regulating my long term service under the Kiith Amaj..."

"C-Contract? I do not understand, sir", Orelis questioned.  
"Oh...", Hailynn's eyes widened suddenly, "C-Captain. I-I never knew that you are..."

"Yes, Commander. I am Captain Quenton of the Kiith Soban, formerly contracted to serve as chief-in-command for the first and only advanced vessel of the Kiith Amaj."

"We, the vaygr, have heard of you sobanni warriors", Ray noted with his deep voice, "Honorable warriors of great battles..."

"Yes, but you may not know that I am bond to the supremacy laws of my kiith", Captain Quenton Soban added, "The Kiith Amaj was in need and contacted my kiith for support. Under the terms of contract, I have been assigned to command this ship..."

"Wow... just... wow...", Orelis said, "- but... Sir, you said your contract has come to an end?"

Hailynn dropped her shoulders. All these years had she known this man and never had she noticed that he was sobanni. She remembered horrific experiences with those of the Kiith Soban. Often had it happened where their contracts became voided during the hiigaran-vaygr war and at the very second that happened, the sobanni would immediately retreat from combat and duty without further notice.  
Often had she cursed them for their kiith values despite their superior capabilities in combat.

"Yes, Officer Orelis. The contract has expired two days ago."

"You are going... to leave us, sir?"

"No. It has happened very often that my contract has become void in the line of duty and action. Unlike my kiith and brethren, I still remained upon the ship."  
His remark did explain a few occasions for Hailynn. All of it was making sense now.

"I will not disembark this ship. Never did I have the intention to do so even if I were capable to leave this ship with a hyperjump-capable shuttle, Officer Orelis. However, I will no longer be your superior officer. I will still interact with you as an advisor."

"So... Then... That's it - Sir?"

"Not quite."

"Captain... Ex-Captain Soban. I have one question", Hailynn suddenly stated, "If... If it was clear to Amaji High Command that your contract were to end now, why... why have they dispatched the 'Vjel-Amaj'?"

"The decision was a desperate one, Commander. I must explain this", Captain Soban leaned back once again, "Ever since the 'Vjel-Amaj' entered service, High Command was in need for a crew and officers willing to endure missions and operations in deep space. Despite the sovereignty of the Kiith Amaj and the minor support of other kiithid, the executive crewmen available to the Amaj Navy neither had experience nor the capability to train exclusively and effectively. For the high costs of forming a acceptable contract, I was transferred over here along with the Commander at the same time – And as I requested her to be my X-O, she accepted. My primary assignment was to train and observe the ship and its crew..."

Hailynn closed her eyes shortly. The last three months had to only do with back-and-forth shipments and other meaningless tasks.

"Commander, I am sure you remember that certain day before we were dispatched."  
Opening her eyes again, her mind recalled that moment. It was the captain who asked her if the 'Vjel-Amaj' and its crew was ready for such a dangerous task.

"Of course, we – and Amaji High Command – underestimated the rescue operation and the dangers within this star system."

Orelis also began to understand the strange reactions of the captain ever since. Nearly all decisions and vital executive commanding were left to Hailynn. Seldom did he intervene. All in all, the captain was an observer and supervisor in one... up to now.

"Yet. There still is one remaining task... actually two terms according to the contract I still must fulfill.", Captain Soban noted.

The row of officers and executives gave confused looks upon each other before they focused their views upon the former captain. The captain arose himself from his seat and laid a strange small box upon his table that shimmered slightly under the light of the large room.

"I will now prolong with the fore last task I must fulfill, albeit that this will not be performed in the common military ceremonial fashion. Note that the following is caused by my decision and not by demand of the contract. To all of you: This is official. Hailynn Delixa, Commander in service of Kiith Amaj Navy. Please, step forward."

A cold shiver ran down her spine at the same moment she heard her name. Breathing deeply and sweating, it was easily noticeable to Kaydaana that Hailynn was trying to suppress her addiction. Hailynn took an unconfident step ahead and stood in front of the row.

"Commander Hailynn Delixa, in pride of Amaji Navy, I am proud to announce your promotion to **Captain** of the Kiith Amaji Navy with immediate cause. All privileges and authority will be transferred to you as to this moment."

"Congratulations, Hailey... looks like you won the race...", Kaydaana whispered quietly to her. Hailynn kept her eyes straight ahead but her head shook slightly.

_This can't be... true._

The rowed rest of the group attained a suddenly straight stance and remained silent.

"Commander Hailynn Delixa, soon Captain, I must however inquire your decision accordingly to the protocols of the Amaji Navy. Do you accept this promotion?"

Hailynn began to sweat even more. Her soul was confused, her heart bewildered. But all the sudden, she lowered her view...  
"I m-must... **deny**.", her voice stuttered.

Everybody other than Ray and Captain Soban turned their view over to her.

"Hailey... Are you out of your mind...?!"

"Captain Soban, sir", Hailynn wanted to explain, "With all needs of respect to your decision... I must deny your promotion. I am not worthy of promotion or the honor of achieving the rank of Captain. I must decline. I cannot allow my shame to be subdued by promotion. That is my will."

"Commander. Is this your last word?", the captain asked with a firm voice.

There was a short pause before she answered, "Yes."

"Commander. Under the witness of all present officers, you have declined promotion and will remain Commander of the Amaji Navy. This is your decision and it must be respected. As of now, the 'Vjel-Amaj' is no longer commanded by a Captain and must remain without a Captain until further notice by the Amaji Navy command."

All others but Hailynn frowned.

"Commander Hailynn Delixa. Following the chain of command, you are nonetheless the highest ranked executive officer of the 'Vjel-Amaj'. Your duty in the line of service to the Amaji Navy still remains. Do you understand this?"

"Yes, Captain Soban. I understand fully."

Captain Soban stared at Hailynn for a long time. There was no sign of disappointment, but he did seem to be concerned. Retaining the golden stripes and insignia pins in his hand, the captain turned away and laid them upon.

"With all means of respect, captain", Hailynn then said, "Are we dismissed."

Again, that long pause took place.

"No, Commander. I must fulfill one more task."  
Hailynn's mind already tried to guess what this last task was going to be. It had to be her removal from command and duty. She was already going to be court-martialed anyways, either by the Amaji Navy or by the Kiith S'jet, as soon as they were to return, that is for sure.

"Remain in stance, Commander."

Hailynn rearranged her body to remain put just one more time...

"Before I continue, Commander Delixa... Hailynn. You must understand that you cannot deny the following. This is a choice not given to you by any protocol of the Navy or any other military segment. Commander Hailynn Delixa, I am proud to announce your confirmation by supremacy of the Kiith Amaj. With immediate cause, ..."

Hailynn's mouth dropped upon... There was no way she could hold back her reactions as the Captain approached her, fitting her stained and wrinkled uniform with the sophisticated symbols of the Kiith.

"...You will attain the kiithidial status of **Anamehej - Krin'sa.**. Commander Hailynn Delixa, with the kiithidial status of 'Krin'sa', you gain all priviledges of voice and execution of the Kiith Amaj. You are now a true delegate of the Kiith Amaj. As of you being 'Krin'sa, never shall your decisions be questioned. All of your decisions from now on will reflect upon the pride of the Kiith Amaj. That is the way of Kiith Absolution and Supremacy. I, Captain Quenton of the Kiith Soban, congratulate you, Commander Hailynn Delixa, Anamehej'Krin'sa of the Kiith Amaj."

The captain raised his open hand.

Looking straight into his eyes, Hailynn began to understand that there truly was no way of decline.

"Krin'sa", the captain said with calm voice, "There are shames we all have and must live with. However, it is not we who decide if we are worthy to the kiith – It is the supremacy. Therefore, Krin'sa, your affiliation into the kiith should fill you with pride and cleanse your shame. Again, I congratulate you, Anamehej."

And there she stood, stunned and overwhelmed by the event. Hailynn tried to foresee her future but was not able to... Her future from now on was a shroud of mystery. Slowly but surely, Hailynn's right hand met with the Captain's. Hand-in-hand, they shook... and as their hands left each other, Hailynn began to feel how the weight of the supreme responsibility was going to be.

"Officer Orelis, Colonel Kaydaana of the Manaan, you both will continue to support the Commander as executive officers, if she wills. Commander, Additional insignia packs according to your newly obtained kiithidial status will be delivered to your quarters. But as for now, Commander, I am afraid you have no time for celebration. I am no longer your superior officer and I must remind you that certain objectives remain open from my former command: The retrieval of Operative Aira, to interact with the remaining survivor onboard this taiidan mothership and the return to Amaji Prime. Recently, Shodanii, that is the name of this survivor, has stated that she is the cause for Aira's dismissal. She stated this needed to happen. Commander, I advise to dispatch a small task force to search for our missing crewmember. Listen to the message of Shodanii and the information she has left you. All your decisions now reflect the future of the Kiith Amaj and the lives onboard this ship and those of the vaygr. That is all. Pride to all of you... dismissed."

There was no chance in getting out of this. Hesitating for one last time, Hailynn made her step back into the row and saluted to her former captain like the rest of the group before they all slowly made their way out of the captain's quarters. As soon as the access doors closed behind, they all congratulated her, including Ray, who evenly said to obey all of commands as her being the new 'Lord of Command'.

But suddenly and without warning, Hailynn turned away and began to walk along the corridor with fast steps.  
"H-Hailey –We need to celebra- ! Where the frell are you going?!", Kaydaana shouted after her.

Hailynn made a short stop before "I must _find Aira_...!"


	15. Chapter 15 High Incident

"Gasp!"

The girl's shriek echoed several times throughout her spacious surroundings as she was surprised by the sudden awareness. Squeamish as she was, the eerie echoes even scared her once more. Frightened by her unknown surroundings, Aira remained paralyzed at one spot.

Just imminently had she no idea what was happening, she did not even know that she had been walking to this unknown destination for hours. Aira turned around several times but did not know where to go. Wild memories flew before her eyes and yet she did not know what was going on with her.

All attempts in gaining control of her thoughts failed, leading the frail girl to fall to the floor as the anarchic confusion disturbed her balance. What game was her mind playing her?

Feeling aches and intense desires to scratch herself, the girl discovered numerous red marks and bumps all over her arms and legs and did not have the slightest idea what was going on with her. Aira notice her swollen cheek.

The air she breathed was utterly thick of various smells, far too difficult for her lost mind to distinguish a single one. Indeed, she was lost and did not have the slightest idea where she was.

But just before her eyes began to percept anything, the remaining lights suddenly lapsed, instantaneously covering her with the frightening embrace of darkness, leaving nothing but her own breathing heard loudly.

"Young mind... do not fearrrr...", the trusted voice hollowed throughout the darkness. Right after the voice ended, it shortly said something in a foreign language.

Soon, Aira began to hear loud clattering and fierce sparks snapping, sounds that sounded as if some powerful energy grids were going online, followed by the soft flickering of light that slowly began to flood her whole surroundings. As the soft illuminations began to reflect upon all surfaces, her eyes slowly but surely perceived the unimaginable.

Raising her view, Aira began to notice that she was nowhere among any familiar grounds... The floor was oddly plated, scratched with many marks and had chipped-off missing pieces. This was not the 'Vjel-Amaj' – but where was she then?

Strange round holes of various sizes with cracks on their edges, weird looking bodies, brown-green layers and other messy things surrounded her, but this was not what actually caught her attention...

Fluids frequently tapped upon the floor, seeping into the nearest crack. Far ahead and above did she discover a gigantic but highly sophisticated pyramid, raging upside-down from the vast hall's ceiling.

Its background however was a thin but shattered layer and marked by innumerable holes – She could not tell what it was. Countless objects, damaged circuits and cables hung down from the pyramid, many of them calmly swinging back and forth. Aira's body trembled in awe as her eyes slowly fell upon the end of the gigantic sophisticated object. Destructed computers were everywhere – all but one seemed to have been left undamaged.

Though not marked by those round holes, it did show signs of corrosion. Erratic smears and stains were seen everywhere – wildly smeared like black paint – unexplainable for her what could have caused this.

The girl's eyes met the end. Discovering a strange round object ahead, Aira perceived a rather unusual massive spherical object but her eyes were incapable of revealing further details. A pod or chamber of some sort she assumed... Unfortunately, her mysteriously purple colored eyes could not properly perceive anything any further.

Whilst suffering the sore pain that irritatingly throbbed within her head, Aira, as a female space-born kadeshi, also suffered optical deficiencies. While able to see the faraway distinct figures by guessing within this gigantic hall, she simply could not focus her eyes, therefore was her view too blurry.

"...The bare eye is weak... Young mind...", the trusted voice echoed throughout the whole hall. No longer did the voice speak within her mind. However, the girl's mouth slowly dropped open. A faint chime sung into her mind.

_Song..._

"Come... Do not fear...", Shodanii's voice sounded, "Pleasssse... Do not fear me... Young mind, your soul seeks answers. Your ssszzsoul senses my song... How long haaaave I endeavored such unbound being to follow my... sssssong?"

The lighting flickered shortly. Aira's eyes did perceive something... A faint body that floated within the large spherical bubble that seemed damaged.

The kadeshi girl hesitated so much that it took her much time to make the first step closer. The sheer majestic appearance of the whole inverted pyramid was suffocating her courage.

"Young mind... It issss I who guided your mind here... to my chamber. I shiverrr in deep disgrace... of penetrating the psyche of... a fragile mind... ", Shodanii echoed sorrowfully, somewhat woefully, " - Kadeshi child... I suffer fearrrr for your kind. _Your kind isss in great danger..._!"

Aira did not understand. Shodanii's words sounded alarming, but the girl simply could not comprehend.

"Young mind... You mussst learn... You mussst leaaarrn... before it isss too... late."

**Chapter 15 – High Incident**

The voice of a bridge operative is listened to over the commlink as he explained:

""-As said before, we have received several uplinks from Shodanii. Deck plans and a lot of information we can't really interpret. Seems to be a mix of... history... log files and a lot more... We even received cartographic data. Wherever she got this from, she must have really been here for a very long time – and we're still receiving more. But that's not all...""

The bridge operative spoke further from her shoulder radio, but Hailynn actually listened passively as she packed several minor soy rations in a hurry.

"Hailey... Haiiiiley", Kaydaana frequently bugged, "Haileh! Hey -"

"God-DAMNIT, what?!"

""—err uhhh, C-Commander?"", the bridge operative asked, noting himself being intimidated by Hailynn's voice, ""Sh-Should I call back later, sir – I mean, ma'am – Ma'am?"

"No. Speak further. I'm listening", Hailynn demanded and pressed a small button on her communication unit to negate surrounding voices to be transmitted.

""As you wish ma'am... Where was I – Ah yes..."", the voice continued as he gave Hailynn the situation update.

"Hailey, what yah doin'?"  
Annoyed by Kaydaana frequent questioning, Hailynn paused.

"Kay, what you think this looks like?"

Once again, Hailynn had her uniform jacket open and reattached the belt around her waist, soon followed by a small pack filled with fluid rations.

"Well - Yah gonna go for Aira? Ain't that a bit..."

"_Ain't nothing_. I have to find her, Kaydy."

"Yeah... but..."

Just as Kaydaana wanted say something further, she paused her speech as Hailynn loaded a small but handy 5mm submachine gun, a lightweight firearm commonly used within the Amaji Navy.

Shoving three additional clips into the pouch upon her waist, the hiigaran woman rearranged her radio gear with a much thicker and stronger antenna that now pointed away from her shoulder.

"Master-of-Arms -", Hailynn called over, soon to be met by a male operative, "I need one portable data-pad."

"Yes, ma'am – Oh, Commander. Here."  
The operative gave Hailynn her missing special issue handgun back.

"Wha-Where- ?"

"It was brought here, ma'am. You seem to have lost it."

"Whatever. Thank you", she replied back to him and holstered it.

The armory was a small region with a selected few aisles filled with equipment and handheld weaponry. Though hardly much available to suit an army, it had an abundance of technical equipment for survival and surveillance.

"But Hailey – Your're a Krin'sa now. Yah shouldn't be doin' this alone, woman!"

"Look. Right now that should be _last_ thing I should be reminded about. I'm pretty much mad right now."

"Yah should keep yer blood pressure down, remember – the doc'--"

"Shut up..."  
Noticing the upcoming debate between the two, the master-of-arms operative slowly retreated in order to get the desired pad.

"And why yah taking the guns with yah?"

"Who knows what the frakk is waiting for me out there."

"The ship's abandoned, girl, ain't no war goin' on out there -"

"Don't care..."

"Haileh – Yah should send a marine team to retrieve the girl", Kaydaana suggested immediately to Hailynn's response.

"We can forget about that. We don't have enough marines for every place and everything, Kay. They are still needed here onboard the ship, at that camp and those research teams out there. Just have those survey teams keep doing what they're doing. We barely – sigh Forget about it, okay?"

Hailynn slammed the secured locker, received her requested datapad and made her way out to the main corridor. Her stained open jacket wove like a cap as she walked out.

"But -", Kaydaana ran behind.

"Damn it, Kaydy. Could you just stop tailing me? sniff"

"Yah not gonna to do this alone, old lady! True, tha' girl may have ran off alone and is somewhere lost in this muthaship place but yah not gonna run gung-ho alone like that sobanni warrior called Rambo. There's no point for yah to just go on this trip all alone!"

"Don't be silly – I need to do this _alone_."

"No!"

"For frakk's sake, Kaydaana – GET off my back!", Hailynn shouted, slightly innervated by annoyance.  
"We both will go look for her, Hailey – We can take Ray with us and -"

Hailynn stopped at once, "Oh sure, I could probably take him. He's vaygr, he surely knows how to use guns –", she snitched ironically, "but then again... HE IS A PILOT, Kaydy! And so are YOU!"

"So whut! You're a Krin'sa now and a naval commanding officer! You're not ah mahrine!"

"I'm an ex-marine..."

"BIG DEAL, I know how to use ah gun, too!"

"But you were not a marine...!"

"I'm MANAAN!"

"But NOT A MARINE nghhhh --!", Hailynn shouted back at her but suddenly swayed to the side of the wall, her left palm immediately thrown upon her chest. It took a short moment for her to regain herself.

"Marine or not – Yah still in bad shape. Yah should -"

"Would-should-conghuld... No more prattle. I want everybody to stay safely aboard and around the ship's perimeter – I want those survey teams to grab whatever they want and get back asap. And fact is: I'm in charge here, '_Unshi_, so move--"

Making one last attempt to stop Hailynn, Kaydaana blocked her passage and stared at her with her usual sharp green eyes. Both remained quiet at first despite the noise coming from the frequent chattering of the operative over the commline.

Again, it was one of those many moments where both stood in front of each other in anger; the slightly taller common hiigaran woman versus the hardheaded darkly tanned manaani that stood in the way. But this time, Hailynn was the stubborn one in the argument.

Kaydaana knew Hailynn for so long, but this time, her usual manner was not going to stop Hailynn's determination... Alas, she began to nod.

"So there we are, eh? Then... FINE. Yah want to go by yahself? Play it solo, boss? Then do it! Yah've been running all this time with drugs, girl... The drugs were killing yah. Yah can't hide it – It nearly did kill y-... M-Mah soul was... just _worried_ about yah, Hailey", Kaydaana's concerns just consolidated themselves as she heard Hailynn breathing heavily: Her health was tarnishing as she stood, her overall condition showing definite signs of drug withdrawal.

"Yer still a wreck, girl. Wh-What if something happens while you are wanderin' out there... And frell, may've been the first time I've been so worried about yah. - but fine... fine – I'll let yah go. Is that an ordah, mah _Krin'sah_?"

The angered manaani paused as she left her head tilted and ignored the radio chatter. But her words did affect Hailynn deeply. She looked down to the floor shortly... Kaydaana _really_ meant it. Without warning, her arms embraced Kaydaana... surprisingly. Indeed, Hailynn felt the unusual concern of the manaani.

"I-I'm... sorry, Kay. I didn't want to insult you. But you must understand that I need to find Aira. Alone. I'm responsible for what I did to her. I must take on this.. on my own. I've _hurt_ a lot of people just a day or two ago. I-I cannot allow anybody to... come with me. You are a pilot – And one frell of a one, Kay. But just this for once... Please stay back, I'm asking you as a... _friend_."

Releasing the overwhelmed manaani, Hailynn reached over to her left shoulder and pressed the button once more, interrupting the speech of the operative, "-- Enough for now. Tell me more later. sniffs Right now, I want you to backtrack Aira's signal and trace a path for me. Relocate one of those com-sat probes in space you told m about, if you must. Transmit your data to my comm signal so my pad can trace her. Orelis shall maintain command during my absence, understood?"

The operative did sound overwhelmed at first, but he reconsidered, ""Uuhh. Yes, Krin'sa... Commander, ma'am. I will take care of it.""

"Thank you. Delixa, out."

Hailynn looked up at the manaani that stared at her. Quietly handing over the pouch and the small submachine gun to her, the hiigaran officer nodded.

Obviously, she reconsidered. Taking this along would be overkill after all – After all, it was said nobody else was striding through the mothership.  
Without any further words, Hailynn bypassed Kaydaana with heavy steps. Though not a single word was said, many feelings went through both of them. It took much courage for Hailynn to leave Kaydaana behind like this. This was the first time Kaydaana ever shown care and worries about Hailynn's well-being... but she made her decision. It was already tough for her to suppress her innermost _urge_.

**- Shodanii -**

Aira's small hand slid upon the surface of the damaged spherical object that rested upon the podium. The shattered shell was partially filled with a strange liquid that at first seem like water, but it was slightly thicker and hazy. Sounds of power hummed among her abandoned surroundings.

"So..._cold_...", the girl whispered just before her eyes suddenly discovered a body deep within the this cracked but transparent shell. Staggered by the view, Aira moved so close that her breath became visible upon the cold surface.

"Yes... Your thoughtsss follows the truth...", Shodanii's calm voice hollowed throughout the hall several times, "Child, you have found me... The leasssst of my... remains..."

The kadeshi girl could not believe her eyes. The body deep within this big shell floated lifelessly and although her eyes failed to penetrate clearly. Sorrow filled her soul. What happened to this poor being? She questioned herself so many times that a tear ran down her cheek.

"Young mind... I feel your... sorrows... but I plea you to come closssser to me."

Aira rose herself and looked once more inside. But this liquid... How could she come closer?

"Do not fear what surroundsss me... It supportsssss... life..."  
Aira circled the huge shell before she discovered a hatch among the upper half and although it seem damaged, she was able to open it.

Climbing among the upper 'hemisphere' of the large shell, the girl used this possibility to enter. Her hand touched the fluid. It was outright cold, yet it tranquilized the intense itch and pain that frequently incited her to scratch. Doubts filled her mind. She was a breathing being – How was she to survive... By holding her breath? Climbing upon the entrance, the adolescent girl slowly sunk into the liquid and held her breath.

"Do not fear... what now surroundssss the both of us..."

However, Aira did have fear. She remained at her spot and held her breath as she floated barely beneath the surface. This was the first time she ever sunk her head below a liquid surface alike water... but as she remained at one spot, she began to notice that she did not feel the urge to breathe at all despite the deep cold crushing her lungs.

Instinctively, the girl opened her mouth and suddenly exhaled slowly... Several bubbles floated away and as she opened her eyes, she slowly inhaled the fluid. At this moment, Aira did expect the worst to happen, needless to explain that she felt the climax of her inner fear. She knew she was a being that needed air. Aira knew she was not one of those beings whose name she did not know, those that lived in such fluids like water.

An image shortly struck her memory, a brief deja-vu that was shorter than a heartbeat - as if she had been in such liquid once before... some time in her mysterious life.  
Surprisingly, Aira's body neither reacted harshly nor fought for the remaining oxygen in her blood... The total opposite took place... She simply remained calm until she became used to the cold, unconsciously adapting to its somewhat frightful _nature_.

Faint echoes transmitted through the fluid, but she could not interpret them. There was a strong metallic taste that tickled among her tongue. This strange fluid... There was a lot more about it, but she could not explain it. It did not take long until her need for breathing stopped, unconsciously absorbing the life-supporting function of this fluid.

Aira slowly swung her arms in a strange manner, obviously trying to swim forward. It did not take long until the kadeshi girl reached the harmed body of Shodanii. The body, in fact, was of a mature woman that was punctured by several circlet holes.

Aira approached Shodanii's body as her innermost sorrow filled her soul. Shodanii's body had thin but holed clothing with patterns that seemed similar to those taiidani ones she had seen throughout the hall. Barely was she able to spot fabrics of the clothing and other small particles levitating within this spherical tank.  
Many cables and tubes encircled her body, but most noticeable ones were connected into the rear side of her head that lead upwards to the tip of the gigantic upside down pyramid.  
There were a selected few cables that did seem odd. Those that had a strange and unusual green-brownish covering them also were leading to her body and head – yet the girl did not know what to interpret out of these. Some fiber cables floated like tentacles, their ends either torn or cut apart.

The eyes were pale white, hardly did revealed any color... They simply remained open alike her mouth. Both Aira's and Shodanii's hair floated in all directions as the girl stared upon the body with frightened eyes. Touching the side of Shodanii's face that was marked with brown veins, Aira felt its hard surface... Lifeless...

"Thisss isss the truth... young one...", Shodanii's calm voice slurred into the girl's mind.

"But... How... Why?", Aira's mind cried in sorrowfulness. The girl could not explain her reaction. This was Shodanii's _dead_ body. So many emotions filled Aira's heart that she climbed her way passed the net of cables that surrounded Shodanii's body, carelessly pulling certain cables out of the way that blocked her passage. She was so out of control that she unknowingly breathed the fluid rapidly again. The truth of Shodanii's body tormented her.

Though slightly entangled by the cables, nothing floated between Aira and the body that she quietly embraced sorrowfully. The cold corpse remained at its place.

"Your soul beseeches answerssss – ...Lisssten to my... story... Follow my... song..."  
Once again, those faint echoes were heard, but this time, Aira's mind slowly began to feel a presence gently penetrating her thoughts albeit the rather severe physical headache.

Aira's blue-purple eyes suddenly faded dark.

**- Reminiscences –**

Memories.  
The same wild and uncontrollable memories she had seen before... but this time... Aira expressed them like never before as all memories, thoughts, reminiscences and information of all kinds cycled into her mind. She no longer had any control over herself. Soon, her heart and soul reflected to the reminiscences...  
Flash

_Who am I_?  
...A century ago...

Childhood memories ran through her memory until the moment her eyes spotted the figures of the mothership that rested upon Omicron Scaffold in high orbit, surrounded by countless stars of huge vessels that surrounded it. Many military crafts hovered through the dusk turquoise sky.

Aira looked down upon herself. Her hands were different, marked and patched with mechanical plating she never had seen before. A strange dress... elegant... but militaristically patterned. She was a lot taller... a fairly matured body.

Her ears listened to a foreign language that stridently echoed among the innumerable amount of viewers and listeners, a gush of wind blew upon her long black hair as the soft smell of this unknown but then again beautiful world touched her nose. So many viewers looked upon their heightened podium as the unknown man gave speech.

The language... Taiidani common... amplified to its maximum so even the farthest listener could listen. The voice spoke about the greatest adventure of all times. The eyes of these millions of viewers were not alone...

Billions among distance stars and planets were expressing this proud moment at this very second – albeit the natural delay through subspace transmission.  
All hail the pride of our Emperor! All hail to the _Lead Guider_ to the new world! Behold, people of all taiidan worlds: Our Guider.

Aira lowered her head and smiled. The whole Taiidan Empire was the audience that awaited her. Spectators of all worlds bided their time to see the being who would _guide_ the brave colonists to a new world at the farthest edge of this galaxy.

A short but friendly bump from an elbow touched her side, kindly urging her to receive this moment's fame and cheer.  
Aira was outright anxious as she approached the strange object that the man before her recently spoken into.  
"Na Taiika gara...!", Aira announced loud and proudly, whose taiidani voice echoed several times among the huge gathering.

She began to hold a long speech that filled her with pleasure. It was a striving sensation as she spoke her words. Once again, Aira's view focused upon the third and last titan mothership high above the atmosphere.

It was unknown to her where the first mothership was, the superior vessel of the Emperor, but she knew that the second and the third one awaited her arrival. Rumors however said that something had occurred at the other edge of the galaxy, far beyond the Great Wastelands...

A taiidan voice suddenly spoke from the side, "Shodanii. My daughter... Are you prepared for the _singularity_?"  
Aira turned her head as she stopped her speech.

"Yes, I am, sir."

Within a single moment, Aira's whole surroundings changed instantly as she walked besides the taiidan admiral alongside the corridor filled with countless men and women, operatives, scientists and those of taiidan military. Up to this moment, a whole month passed ever since she boarded this ship. All her life had she been distant to her father. They did not speak any further.

Despite their long-going silence, deep trust and faith flew through her as she walked among their path. This ship and the second one had the propulsion needed to perform the most extreme far-jump through hyperspace of all times. Both were to enter hyperspace and lead 3 million taiidan colonists in cryo-stasis to the new worlds among the far edge of the galaxy by a single jump...

Aira's eyes opened suddenly. Innumerable emotions emerged within her soul...  
Already five months of passionate adaptation and preparations have passed since her soul entered symbiosis with the cell, the ship's computer and the prototype Manifold Singularity Core – The most advanced propulsion core based on xenotechnologies gathered by the taiidan's aggressive reach throughout the galaxy's core region.

The true heritage of this drive remained a mystery to her. The common soul throughout the galaxy only once heard of it as an advanced hyperdrive... but never of its truth.

The blue fluid, Snyrdrolite, enveloped her young body totally. Every single impulse of the billion datalinks flew through the various cables as the 'syntholytic' fluid nourished every cell of her body. Each thought she made was precisely conducted that tickled every corner of her body.

Her mind was overflowed with many consciences at once. While the eyes saw the various biotech scientists, astronomers and many other military segments operating outside her spherical chamber, her mind felt the supreme presence of every single object and celestial body in space.

Aira's perception registered every being onboard, every single communication , speech and data transfers of the ship's computer. Never had she felt such an astonishing feeling. Aira smiled as one of the biotechnicians smirked a joke, noticing her excitement through the vitality monitors.

"What is that you asked, Shodanii? The Kushans? You've never heard of them, I suppose. A race not worth to mention on a faraway planet. I don't know much about them myself. Nobody should really care about them, but you could try examining the datalinks some day."

Her inner eye looked over to the second mothership that levitated twelve kilometers away. Whilst possessing its own Singularity Core, the second mothership differed greatly from hers: Aside to the crew, it was her hand, her intentions and purposes that led both ship – A _remote_ duplicate mirroring her psyche.

But worries filled her soul as her thoughts wandered off to the other mass of the protective fleet, the foreign fleet of the Turanic Kingdoms that entered patronage with the Taiidan Empire by the will of Emperor Riesstiu IV the Second.

They were everywhere. Their troops were stationed all over among the ships, at least a million of them and their warfare was going to take part of this thriving adventure. But Aira needed not to worry, despite their hostile appearance, they were here to protect and support the taiidans. Alas, she calmed herself as she felt the existence of all colonists in cryo-stasis.

Thousands of experiences bypassed her mind like a gush of wind. Her body had aged very slowly during another 7 years due to the influence of the core and for the first time, they have forged first contact with an enigmatic wayfaring culture, a race of unknown origins that inducted high interest in trades and knowledge of all kinds and other deepspace-faring beings that traveled through the endless galaxy. Aira's mind forged itself with the Bentusi's consciousness for the first time. Never had her mind and soul been enlighten in such manner.

Despite their supportive notions, the Bentusi had no knowledge considering the whereabouts of the _missing_ second mothership and its fleet.

The initiate singularity jump throughout hyperspace proved itself to be as a seriously dangerous and purely unpredictable incident despite the technological _persistence_ of the taiidans... The amass of malfunctions and unexpected miscalculations during its singularity's initiation folded both ships through separate singularity wavefronts, causing both to uncontrollably jump through time and space separately... leading to unforeseen destinations.

For seven years had Aira constantly fought with the recalibration, assimilating any possible mistaken calculations to rediscover and reunite to the second fleet... but all attempts failed deeply.

The Bentusi offered their support and omniscience but without success – Therefore was the taiidan singularity core far too unpredictable, foremost leading to the fact of unreliability. The whereabouts of the second fleet remained a lost mystery; their emerge-point practically volatile. During the Bentusi interactions, Aira began to learn that her psyche played a far much serious and essential role, far beyond the basic mind. Even though the mind-machine interface of the third mothership was advanced, her psyche lacked the so-called _Unbound Consciousness_, the ultimate perception of time and space.  
Luckily, Aira belonged to the very few able to benefit and learn from the Bentusi, despite the harsh standings between the Taiidan Empire and this enigmatic race.

Almost three decades later...

Unfortunately, as Aira's psyche began to percept the way of the Bentusi and their transcendental awareness of time and space, her efforts in singularity jumps continued to fail gravely.

Many starmaps revealed themselves as she focused her mind accordingly to the Bentusi principles.

Nonetheless, every psychic success and advancement in knowledge of the galaxy, its physics, its riches, beauties and dangers, and the way of the Bentusi backfired with each jump. Whereas she gained control of the wavefront... the emerge-point always remained at random. However, Aira remained determined to lead her people to the new worlds.

The Bentusi knowledge proven itself worthy... Aira became _unbound_.

Yet, confidence and faith of ever returning to taiidan space had already been abandoned, yet the taiidan authority maintained command and the task to find the second fleet and the new habitable world at the edge of the galaxy.

Nonetheless, the disastrous jumps into lost space made contacts with the Bentusi even more seldom, for their presence throughout these dangerous regions was extremely low. The very last contact with a single Bentusi vessel only gave a faint hint on the condition of the crumbling Taiidan Empire, its defeated Emperor and perhaps the whereabouts of the second mothership fleet named 'Taiika Aksaii Vay' that emerged somewhere among the fringes of the 'eastern' arm of the spiral galaxy.

Distrust began to rise among the ranks and the people onboard. The dangerous natures of the galaxy had frequently caused casualties throughout the decades of lost voyaging.

The once trusted Aira as the guide leading the taiidans to the new world among the fringe had already disintegrated and formed into hatred.

Internal affairs and unrest slowly spread like a sickness throughout the minds. Aira soon learned that the decades of isolation in space was leading to insanity and intense dissension throughout all vessels of the fleet and the mothership. With the dissensions gaining power, the turans slowly came to the fact that with the fall of the Emperor Riesstiu IV and the Taiidan Empire that the patronage and their pledge subservience became void... and all these decades long had they been serving the taiidans as servants. Unfortunately, the turanic psyche proved itself as the most instable and labile...

As the death toll among the crews during the voyage became dangerously high, the taiidan authority began to recover and awake some of the colonists as replacement.

Aira screamed as the next event in her life caught her by surprise. A violent rumble channeled throughout the ship, surging it with a brutal and vicious power feedback that tore the singularity wavefront from the mothership during the last hyperjump. With the feedback surging her, all functions of the ship are left uncontrollable, foremost her influence with the core's wavefront field generator.

The longevity serums, other vital things and the numbers of loyal crewmembers slowly became scarce. As word spread that the whole mothership was crippled for good, lost in space for nearly 60 years and now stuck in an endless nebula barely at the reach of a blackhole, longevity no longer available, the Emperor and the Taiidan Empire destructed, the threshold of extensive unrest ultimately burst out of control.

Months and years of turmoil and terror occurred throughout the fleet. Insane madness led to mindless killing, onslaughts and bloody treachery. Mutiny, disregards and deaths arose...  
Aira fought for the sanity but never would she be able to soothe the insane psyche of every being... but the worst was yet to happen...

A vain scream... She screamed as an unusual but sudden infestation slowly spread among the mothership's hull. A dreadful bio-menacing vessel appeared and infected the greater portion of the fleet with a decaying disease that wrecked havoc upon nearly every being it came in contact with.

The green-brownish bio-menace, though a rather small ship was a threat none could withstand. The infestation was a very slow plague that expanded among the hundreds of decks despite all measures of quarantine. Dreadful months had passed by until biotechnicians discovered that the menace was a dying invasive lifeform. For some reason, the infestation itself was an intellectual menace that was _infected_ itself. It was trying to manifest its dying self, needing both the ship and living beings as host. However, the infested people died of a long and slow death.

Coward self-preservation however forged the rest of the fleet with the same interest, mainly the turanics and the surviving uninfected portion of the taiidan military colonists who became aware that they needed to disband from the mothership.  
In order to escape the infestations, the mothership was violently stripped of its Singularity Core and nearly all of its available energy stored in the regenerative capacitors.

Whilst its far-jumping capability being mistrusted, the largest vessel of the turanics concealed the core into itself to inhibit the monstrous living death from escaping or pursuing them. The surviving taiidans knew they had to form a partnership of convenience to survive this.

They were sure the fleets could escape and go on their own way once they gathered enough resources from the mothership. However, the threat was simply too high that this menace would hunt them.

Following the scientific results, the remaining fleet understood that the menace would die out within the next five years and that the fleet would need to return to the mothership around seven years to charge its propulsion cells and capacitors for their hyperspace modules if needed... A fact not to be ignored.

At the time the core was stripped from the mothership, her mind felt how the forceful separation tore her apart, as if an invasive force ripped her heart and soul from her body.

She cried and begged for them to stop, but the force of the fleet ignored her plea. Up to now, the escaping fleet had only one task remaining...

Aira had no chance of escape. The surge long ago had paralyzed most her physical body. Her efforts nonetheless focused on saving as much people as possible... but time slowly showed that they all would be infected.

The menace already had expanded itself to her chamber, invasively penetrating her mind with its dreadful will. Aira struggled with all her strength not to fall under total influence, yet she was slowly failing to it as the days went by.

Unable to move much, the taiidani unbound being became aware of an armed force approaching the core bridge of the mothership. A task force that slaughtered their way from the infested docking scaffolds throughout the ship to the last instance of the executive bridge.

All sides took losses, but it was clear that the task force could not linger long versus the menacing bodies and insane gunmen. Even possible survivors found on the way were mindlessly executed. Despite the gigantic hall her chamber and the main supercomputer resided in as the last bastion of the survivors, the task force entered the area with blazing gunfire...

Wild flashes of automatic projectile weapons wrecked havoc throughout the bridge. Powerful rifles roared with the vain screams. Witnessing the deaths of the remaining survivors, Aira had no choice but to observe the bullets violently dismembering the limbs of the survivors. Collateral damage butchered every single being no matter of what age or heritage. The troops purged the area and slowly approached Aira's chamber. Smashed projectiles upon the shell noted that it was not easy to penetrate... but they all knew how to reach her.

Aira listened to the speeches of the soldiers. Only the supercomputer needed to stay active to maintain the possibility to return to the mothership and sap its regenerative energies years later. All other lives were... expendable for them.

Dithering for her life, Aira fought vainly to move as her eyes followed one taiidan soldier walking upon the podium to the hatch. She screamed at him in the taiidani language for her life.

She did not want to die. She had figured up to now that if the people would survive only less than a month and not five years longer, most of the infestation would die out for good...

The taiidan soldier hesitated as he aimed his assault rifle down upon Aira's submerged body... but there was no chance of survival. His hatred blamed her for all the causes and the deaths ever since the first jump. They all mistrusted her scientific knowledge of the core by now.

They followed the fact that she could not control the illogical Singularity Core and the wavefront it formed. Aira slowly understood that she was the one who failed them. Furthermore, the soldiers needed to ensure that no inconveniences would interfere with their plans. Her sacrifice would ensure the future of the surviving fleet.

In a sudden manner, her chest was painfully penetrated by three aimed shots. The struggle was long and agonizingly, her life faded away with red cloud that soon shrouded her whole body...

But Aira's consciousness still remained...  
Unknown to the task force, her unbound psyche, while fractured and barely affected by the infection, prevailed amidst the supercomputer's core and slept as the armed force shutdown all but the supercomputer permanently, leaving only one console available to maintain the power flux allocation and life-support systems that are left offline until their possible return.

Several flashes occurred that same day later...  
The surviving fleet escaped the remaining infestation.

Without the physical body, her psyche could barely maintain the ship for the next years. Aira sorrowfully observed the slow deaths of every being: The remaining infested bodies, the least survivors who died due to the failed life-support and lastly, the remaining hundred thousands of cryogenic colonists.

For the next decades, Aira was unable to do anything but eavesdrop in time and space, hoping to discover an unbound being... Whilst able to retain some of the ship's systems and control, she had been alone for extensively long periods. In between had the surviving fleet returned, however only to plunder the regenerative energy and the capacitors...

Surrounded by the innumerable destructed fleet of infested or mad taiidan and turanic ships, the field of waste and debris remained at the vicinity of the mothership, held by its gravitational integrity fields. Her perception for wayfaring beings was limited.

She was still dying, but she never died at last. Power fluctuated every now and then that tormented her surviving psyche in agony.

The supercomputer still evoked self-preservation, making it impossible for her to actually terminate herself... that is, if she even had the possibility to. Her soul was forever stuck in the dead hulk, swallowed and enveloped by the unimaginable depth of the gaseous system.

Aira's psyche was now enslaved to the dominant surviving fleet that made sure the existence of the supercomputer would never fail... All these years had they survived and yet... still had not escaped this system. They were trapped in it as well... but they kept surviving...

A full century of hopes, values and pride ended in despair and suffering...

(A long preceding moment... Somewhere throughout the deep of the abandoned taiidan mothership)

A moment went by before she suddenly fought against the pain to get up. She limped and cried with every painstaking movement, hopefully leaving the madness behind. She was in desperate need for an intense dose of cortisine... that she just threw away into the seemingly endless pit for good along with its additional capsules.

The total recall of her dreadful past, from the time between her flawed childhood, the Kiith Delixa, to the vaygr war, tormented her mind, led by her second personality somewhat dauntingly intimidating herself - A confusing twist of hallucinations and voices plagued her.

Her shoulder and balance repeatedly knocked and slid against the unfamiliar solid wall of the corridor... but she did manage to remember the route from the smashed datapad...  
Deep within, Hailynn knew she was not far from her destination, the place where she could find the lost kadeshi girl.

(end of foregoing moment)

Bridge of the Vjel-Amaj  
Long hours before...

The access doors shifted themselves closed as Orelis rushed into the rather quiet bridge. The skeleton crew maintained operation as the ship peacefully rested upon the scaffold, basically keeping in contact with the drones in space, other crewmen throughout and beyond the ship and the maintenance work. After being noticed shortly, he immediately turned to one of the few available communication operatives at the far right and rear of the bridge.

"Hey, you – Operative Packard. You're the one I recently spoke with, or not?", Orelis immediately asked him, recognizing who he recently spoke with.

"Yes, Lieutenant Commander", the operative confirmed as he took off his headset.

Orelis immediately got to the point, "You've got to be kidding me... _She_ left the ship? Alone?!"

"No, I am not, sir – It's confirmed. Commander Delixa has disembarked from the ship nearly two hours ago from now and has left further command to you as X-O, sir."

Hearing the comment, Orelis straightened his back and looked up to the ceiling - Least did Packard hear a disappointed sigh from behind.

"All right...", the now executive officer said as soon as he lowered his view upon the operative, "Now why are we hearing about this _now_ and not earlier?"  
"Ehh-"

Hailynn's shoulder knocked against the solid-plated wall after loosing her balance shortly. Hardly carrying anything else but a moderately loaded belt with a sidearm, the datapad and the common shoulder mounted comm-unit with a larger antenna, her weariness was no longer deniable by her determined ego. Yet, she wanted to continue, the remains and stains everywhere disgusted her, needless to explain how disgusting it felt just as her finger tips touched something oily on the plated walls.

Up to now, her path through this weird ship showed a near infinite amount of proof for battles and massacres that occurred at least many decades ago. Several bodies were stuck to the walls with a strange biomass connecting them all to one of the depleted conduits. Not a single spot was clear of this strange dried infestation, needless to say how slaughtered and widespread the remaining limbs were. It more or less surprised her how much of this 'survived' without decaying into anything more gross.

But then, she stopped. Something throughout her surroundings changed. The barely visible crimson lights faded to black along with the faint noise she ignored ever since she had been on the move. To a point, the air that surrounded her seemed to have just become calmer than before. Surrounded by the darkness, it did not take long at all until her augmented left eye slowly adjusted and adapted to the dark situation.

Though having a sorry thanks to the minor remnants of her previous military career that _branded_ her long ago, the non-intensive augmentations among her still proved themselves worthy. Hailynn sighed before she continued among the path.

"I think I can answer that, sir – If I may interrupt...", another operative with logistics insignias and uniform added, wanting to clarify the situation.

"Go ahead, please", Orelis replied as he shortly made some space for other operatives entering the bridge.

"We have increased the maximum proximity radius of all comm beacons among the ship ever since we have dispatched the expeditionary groups. Logistic warden systems frequently went off like mad until we raised the radius", Orelis dropped his shoulders slightly as he heard the word 'radius', "I have to apologize for not discovering this earlier, I have only been monitoring the groups beyond – None of us really expect somebody to be wandering off like that alone."

"Alright – I can only guess she's going for Aira, right? pause Right.", Orelis said to them and took a step away, "Packard, sigh can you get an uplink to her right now?"

"Not quiet, sir. We've been relocating the com-sat probe outside the mothership for a long while but still have trouble pinpointing her signal and aligning it to the mainframes we received from _that_ A.I. woman – which I uploaded to her datapad before she disembarked. Good news is that we found our positioning and can backtrack all movements now."

As seen on one of the screen, Orelis spotted the image zooming in and penetrating throughout countless layers and decks of the mothership until it met with scaffold region filled with blips and other moving dots.

"Let's not waste the time", Orelis suddenly said.

"Sir?", both operatives asked with confused voices.

"Heh, you two don't know Hailynn well, huh? - Come to think of it, me neither really –ironical grin but she can be a loner sometimes. And this unusual mothership is the wrong place to be walking around alone like this. So -"

""Bridge ffhz, This is EG-Three. Come in, bridge command"", a barely understandable voice suddenly spoke over the commline.  
Packard immediately turned to his console and responded after picking up his headset again, "This is bridge command, go ahead, sir."

One of Orelis' eyebrows raised itself. An expeditionary group calling in on the bridge had to mean some trouble of some sort.

""Bridge, what's going on? hhhzsh There are indications that the remaining power grid throughout this area just collapsed. Everything's offline. Other groups are reporting the same. Can't really say that we've done something. What shall we do?""

"What? All areas, you say? That doesn't sound good", the communication operative replied with a worried voice.

"What is this all about?" Orelis asked, wanting to know of his concerns.

"Standby, EG-Three. We are still receiving a lot of encrypted and compressed data, but along with that, the A.I. woman stated that she and the ship's power grip frequently collapse at certain periods – Somewhat predictable periods. However... This shortage is an _unscheduled_ one. "

"I understand that, but that doesn't seem to be your point."

Packard turned himself over to Orelis, "Indeed, X-O. The power grid powers all of the ship's remaining functions. Our expeditionary groups are in safe zones - but beyond those, the rest of the ship is more likely _dead_ - and with that, I mean the life support and pressure control systems. The A.I. stated that atmospheric levels could only be upheld with power due to the fact that the certain hull sections are not completely sealed. The bridge section of the mothership is a safezone as well but between here and there – nobody should be walking around without lifesupporting gear. Without power, the rest of the ship would slowly bleed away its current pressure supply..."

"Damn it."

"I'm sure the grid will be back online some time, but this is a bad time to be wandering beyond our set proximity, sir", the other logistic operative affirmed.

"Look. I want you to recall the two closest team to a rally point and have them meet up with a few of our marines and a few other volunteers along with medics", Orelis suddenly proclaimed, "Once they meet up, I want them to wait at the edge of the proximity border until life support is back online. rubs forehead I can't believe Hailynn gone solo like this... – Anyways, I assume she should be fine as soon as she meets up with Aira."

"Yes sir, the A.I. woman informed us that Aira is at her area – This sort of bridge section right here on the screen."

"At least she knows where she needs to head to..."

A corridor somewhere within the Vjel-Amaj  
Kaydaana slowly walked throughout the ship. Mindless of how long she had been walking in circles, her thoughts swarmed around her confession and Hailynn's matter. Despite the walk clearing the smallest amount of her concerns, many things still remained unanswered.  
However, her mind suddenly snapped as she discovered a familiar face she had been seeking before. The manaani officer bit her teeth together as she looked ahead. The female superior logistic officer she had been looking shared gossips and laughter with her colleagues, when both views suddenly crossed each other.  
Deena Amaj, sister of Fenna Amaj and one of the ship's most graceful gossipers, stopped her speech...

"Errr... Guys, I'll... just catch y'all later. 'kay? Heh-heh... uh-oh", she quietly said to the group before retreating around the corner. Making fast steps, Deena's friendly smile turned into a dreadful frown due to the fact that the manaani she fooled was hot on her trail.

"Yooouu! Git back here!", Kaydaana's voice shouted from behind.

The joke Deena pulled of having Ray to be assigned to her sister's quarters was a thorn in Kaydaana's eye – and not only that, it was a permanent decision for now due to the regulations as a logistic officer and of course due to the crowds of refugees onboard. It was more than obvious that Kaydaana wanted to have Ray assigned to her quarters. Cowardly moving with fast steps, Deena rushed without running, dodging groups of people in the way while ironically trying not to show others throughout the corridor that she was in _deep_ trouble.

"Oh hi, Colonel – What's the...", a trio of her subordinate pilots greeted as they saw Kaydaana dashing by, ignoring them totally, "hurry...?"

Deena had always been known as a weasel, a nickname given to her for her style of playing poker and other card games with the crew during off duty times, but often had she also made a fool out of Kaydaana in poker rounds. She was too scared to think about what Kaydaana was going to do with her. Silly to think that these two grown women were acting like school kids...

**- The Ark -**

Aira was in deep sleep, but still felt the crowding dead hulks silently orbiting the mothership. Everything was dead for now. The remaining power grid once again failed and with it, her current flow of life. All these decades long had this failure occurred frequently and yet each time was a frightening event of death that haunted her soul.  
It was as if her life came each time to an end, a sudden freeze siphoning the rest of her existence – but she knew she was not truly dead. It was only a matter of time until she would be revived into this misery... only to be tortured by its occurrence yet again. Lastly, the surviving fleet would return to plunder her regenerative power and fuel supplies – even cannibalize the hull for erecting or repairing ships.  
Nonetheless, all of this time though, her mind had been able to remain conscious to time and space. Her mind still was able to percept the fleets of the dreadful turanics and taiidans that struggled for their survival. Throughout the years, the fleet flew throughout this system, only to discover minor planets and a single strange _habitable region_ in space. Until now had she become aware of three further factions, one of them actually being hunted by the other unknown one.

But among this time, her mind became aware of a being with a frail mind that had entered this dense star system. Soon she became aware that it was Aira, a kadeshi descendant. All matters in contacting her succeeded, lastly leading her and her voyagers to the mothership. But this was not all. Aira wanted to show _Aira_ something of a plot that had occurred a long while ago.

Penetrating into the nebula, both minds perceived an event. A titanic vessel and its fleet of needleships and swarms of capsules struck upon one of the major fleets of the survivors, lastly attaining the Singularity Core and uniting it with their unknown core system. The majestic vessel, loosely similar to the needleships but scaled upon rather supernatural measure, was filled with young minds of unbound beings and even millions of other bound ones – However, their thoughts were scattered and full of hatred. Aira learned that _Aira_ was a descendant of these beings.

Yet, the kadeshi were in danger. The surviving rest of the turanic-taiidan fleet had combined forces with the other faction known as "Vaygr", a name she had heard throughout the wave of space. Soon had Aira learned that the kadeshi were wayfaring to this system on behalf of their religion and heritage. The majestic vessel and its fleet were filled with an unimaginable amount of kadeshi souls; Nearly a whole world existed inside. The ship itself was beyond the fact of simply being a mothership...

_Kadesha's Ark..._, Aira's faint voice whispered.

It all began to make sense.  
Aira's true mind concluded that they had found Rahji's Sanctuary deep within his endlessly sorrow. 'Kadesha's Ark'... The vast but familiar vessel... Aira began to understand that this ship had to do with her heritage, her existence. It felt so familiar.

This majestic 'Ark' was the ship of her culture that sailed across the dangerous and immense galaxy on a pilgrimage to Garden of Rahji, to seek the _truth_. She did not truly know of which _truth_ at first, therefore was her fragile mind to weak to recall, but they were indeed pilgrims on behalf of kadeshi religion and legacies. Within a single second, faintly could she recall the bleak disorder, the unrest of psyche throughout the Garden of Kadesh.

The constant turmoil of all believers that led to an endless onslaught, smiting death upon those who did not believe one or another. Scavengers wrecking havoc upon 'unclean' minds. One belief led to another, but mainly, sacrificing the lives of others pleased the minds of their sect. Each sacrifice bled blood to the sungods. All sects of believers only followed their hatred in cleansing the Garden of Kadesh of its infidels.

Not only did the _truth_ seem to be their goal. The kadeshi of this ark believed in a sacred world hidden throughout the Garden of Rahji. However, their seek for Kadesha's tear must have remained unsolved at journey's end. Many vessel of fleet dispatched themselves to seek the world, but the seek proved itself as an impossible task to complete. Her soul felt happiness but sorrowed for them at the same time.

Rahji's Garden was a sacred world for all of them, but without the _sake of Kadesha's sorrow_ of such, never were they to stay and receive his embrace. Never were they to settle down and flourish.  
Without the 'Tear of Kadesha', they were never to receive his loving embrace, so says their bequest. Their journey must have lastly proven itself as a failure. While Aira may had found Kadesha's tear, she nonetheless failed to receive a _drop_, evidence that her sorrow had reached Rahji's. Despite their struggle of venturing so many thousands light years, they would never survive upon a distinct world in space; Their minds were therefore too dependant on the embrace of the sacred Gardens.

But something else led her mind away to a more dangerous fact: Kadesha's Ark and its fleet slowly retreated to the entry point... however not able to percept the dangers of the fleets that surrounded the only known but safe escape away from Rahji's sorrow. Kadesha's Ark was far away, but one's mind could easily guess that they were slowly approaching a serious threat.

As time flew by, Shodanii's mind separated itself from Aira's, lastly returning the will to the frail kadeshi girl. Shodanii felt how terrifying her life was for this girl, but she needed to know – and it was not over, yet. All knowledge of the galaxy, all the mass of information, secrets, dangers and riches flew into Aira's mind but also replicating every single bit of all what Shodanii was.

However, the girl's mind was more likely being overfed. Shodanii feared her fragile mind would burst asunder, but she had no other choice but to share all she knew with this small being she wished to ensure its survival.

**- ...she'll be just fine... -**

Hailynn stopped in front an access door that blocked her way. The whole area was another scaffold area alike the one where the 'Vjel-Amaj' was situated, however a bit smaller, more likely designated for smaller crafts and other vehicles. Situated high above on one of the largest catwalks, she took a glimpse down into the deep by leaning over the railing.

Her augmented eye was not able to see anything worthwhile other than more metal bars, other railings with bent or damaged frames and many other boring things. However, she noticed that the air was slowly getting strange. Probably a failure in the life supporting systems, she assumed. Despite the fact that the air was getting thinner at a very slow pace, she did not need to worry yet. Once again, her former military career augmented her with enriched blood thanks to nanotechnology, which actually only allowed her to operate in low-pressure regions for a much longer period of time without falling unconsciously, although it did have some side effects.

There were a lot more of these minor augments that nonetheless still disturbed her. From the outside, she appeared may appear as a kushan, but there were several other _things_ invisibly under her skin. It did surprise her that those throughout the Kiith Amaj still saw her as a kushan being rather than a cybernetic monster – nonetheless, not many really knew of it anyways.

At first surprised by the sudden rumble and noise hollowing throughout the dark area, she moved away from the railing and back to the door. According to her datapad, she only needed to keep going straight ahead. Unfortunately, she broke a rule of her own such as never to take her ideas of 'shortcuts', which led her to this area, this path and lastly to this door blocking her way. Hailynn frowned, since she knew if this door would not open, she would have to walk another half an hour back and circle this area – not really a good idea either since life support was failing.  
"Oh c'mon..."

While the unusual keypad still seemed to have power, it did not really respond to the wild and random inputs of her finger. The frequent sound it made did not sound like a real access denial either, more likely as if some sort of malfunctioning blocked it. She kept trying, hammering a finger on several button wildly.

"Commander Orelis", Packard called out, "The search and rescue team has assembled itself and is waiting for the power grid to restore itself."  
"Thank you, good to know."  
"Hmm. This power failure is holding on quite long, I hope the Commander is okay", the logistic officer noted.  
"I'm sure she'll be just fine, Jacen", Orelis replied to him with sureness, "When all of _this_ is over, remind me to account all of us for a **very** long shore leave from duty... Oh, almost forgot to say something..."

At the same moment Hailynn pounded upon the pad, the access door shifted open.

"'bout frakking...", but as she straightened her back, she suddenly froze at one spot with a startled face, "...time..."

A tall figure revealed itself behind the access door that slowly shifted away. A toughly built man in a strangely armored with severe damages, scratches and dried stains stood before her. The appearance was so surprisingly that her astonishment even held her breath. Both stared each other with surprised faces. It seemed as if none had expected to meet each other... here and now. Indeed, an unforeseen confrontation.

What actually scared Hailynn was the fact of who this man for sure was... The fact that was _written_ over his forehead like a signature: The particularly ridged forehead resembling the fact that he was a turanic man! Wrinkles were all over his face, he seem aged but showed no sign of any affliction. The turanic, the much-feared aggressor against the Kiith Amaj, stood not even a step away.

But same for him, his eyes pinched together in hatred as they briefly scanned her... The gentle _flawlessly_ round forehead of Hailynn easily led to the fact that he stood before a puny young female kushan being. Least one could say he was surprised, since he knew no explanation how such kushan could be here on this gigantic vessel so far away from that one planet whose name he could not recall.

Her eyes widened. Hailynn noticed an aggressive reaction in his face just as his arm pulled out the awkward looking weapon from his side. With the sudden jolt of his action, she instinctively spun her counterclockwise closer to him and threw her left elbow to the side of the weapon as he stretched it out - barely able dodge his sudden aim and knock the weapon off his hand at the same time...

"Huh – Wait... She denied promotion to the rank of Captain?!Aw man...", Jacen, the logistics officer ironically asked loudly back to Orelis as the rest of bridge listened, "And she's a Krin now?!"

Orelis nodded several times, "You got it - and not just a simple Krin, Krin'ka, 'ned, 'tekar... but Krin'sa! The Captain as we know him is no longer _chief-in-command_ and speaking of that, she's the big boss now and representative of the Kiith Amaj as of... well, from now on and forever."  
Other operatives looked at each other.

"That's just... wow. It may sound weird, but I'm glad she's it – honest. Don't get me wrong but I rather have her than some other whack from some other dominating kiithid leader, sir."

"Me too", another female operative said from the other side of the bridge, "But hey, has she... reported to the bridge yet?"

"Nope", Packard said back to her, "Nothing yet."

"Lost her signal on the screen", Jacen added as well, "Seems to be a blind spot but she should pop up at Aira's current beaconing signal some time around. We'll have it easier as soon as the com-sat manages to position itself correctly."

"I'm sure the Commander is on her way with no real trouble", Orelis assured them and arranged his uniform a bit, "Probably much to see out there. For sure, she's probably just taking her time as usual", assuming to Hailynn's 'usual' punctuality for duty.

Hailynn's sidearm slid away as well as her opponent knocked it off her hand likewise by a powerful swipe. Wrestling against the power of her opponent, Hailynn fought but hardly had the chance to withstand. Almost did he snap her neck if she had not been aware of his attempt!

"Van-WOT!", he shouted in a foreign language at her.

"Son-of-a... uughf-!", unfortunately the left side of Hailynn's torso was wide open for an attack... to which he took advantage of.  
Forced by the blow, Hailynn was knocked back onto wide catwalk high above the scaffold area. Approaching her aggressively, her turanic opponent threw another vicious strike followed by a thrusting knee attack. Dodging the best she could, something told her that her antagonist was a skillful soldier. His brute movements were still accurate and dexterous – He knew what he was doing. There was no time for gauging or asking... He wanted her dead.

Parrying was not a simple task for each parried blow was as hard as metal.

The catwalk was indeed a wide area. Hailynn needed to avoid giving him the chance of tossing her over the edge; he was up to that idea for sure. By doing so, she strafed to the side, offering her more space despite the amount of sealed crates and other things she could not percept clearly at this suspenseful moment.

The turanic soldier hurled several attacks upon her. While able to parry most of them, each block caused more pain from the skin to the bone that forced her back again.

Using the current moment of him recovering from his attacks, Hailynn immediately charged ahead, shoulder first. The rather small hiigaran woman bashed her shoulder against the torso of the turanic soldier followed by a _powerful_ jab below his ribcage. Despite her counterattacks being sudden, both ended in pain. His armor was simply too thick for her. At first, the soldier was knocked back by the attack but caught his balance within the next second

Repelled by soreness, Hailynn clumsily stumbled backwards over a small group of crates she was unable to dodge. Slightly disorientated, she desperately crawled away, trying to gain single seconds of mind and breath. Hailynn was already sweating, suffering and rather out of endurance, formidably caused by her dreadfully longing addiction. Judging the situation, she was in a very serious trouble. However, she did notice that this brutal man was assured of taking her down without the need of his sidearm.

"D-damn it...", she painfully said, "Can't we just talk this through-", but was suddenly dragged back by her leg. Before she could react anyhow, she was forced up to her feet and right after punched into the stomach with yet another crushing blow. Staggering backwards, she fell over again, but this time landing a lot more painfully upon another group of the smaller crates, their corners and edges poking everywhere upon her body.

She coughed and choked.

Feeling a disgusting substance upon her hand, she noticed that her hand fell upon a rotted corpse hidden among these knocked-over crates. At the same moment though, her hand felt something else below, the surface of a familiar 'grip'.  
The soldier remained silent but kicked the crates out of the way. It was clear to him that he had the upper hand... when suddenly...

The in his eyes puny kushan woman unexpectedly swung an ill-treated looking weapon from below straight at him, obviously found by coincidence among one of the many rotted corpses spread everywhere among their surroundings.  
Hailynn did not really know what type of weapon it was, but it did have the common shape of bulky handheld sub-machinegun, she knew it had to be a weapon. The turanic soldier stayed put, he did not expect her find a weapon – Even more, his shocked reaction actually told Hailynn that she was indeed holding a lethal weapon to him.

Without any second thought, Hailynn gave a vicious and self-assured smile before pulling the trigger...  
click-fzzzzt

Hailynn frowned as a single spark jumped from its side. The weapon she held seemed to be a cell-powered one that unfortunately must have corroded throughout all of this time lying here...  
"...ngh... bad karma..."  
The soldier immediately kicked the useless weapon from her hands and swung the lower edge of his left foot, a down-striking attack aimed straight for Hailynn's body. Unable to dodge, Hailynn's slow reaction caused her to receive a critical blow to the right side of her ribcage... A snapping pain that kept her down to the ground. Her painful voice echoed several times throughout the scaffold region.

"uufnngggh!"  
Her shouting suffocated as heavy pressure suddenly forced itself against her chest. Sore pain was overwhelming her movement. Her hip suffered greatly from the recent hit, but that was the least of her problems. The soldier was trying to crush her with his heavily armored foot. The tremendous pain was taking over. Not only was this 'soldier' a dangerous opponent, but also a sadist as he stared down upon the weak being crying for his mercy.

In attempt of trying to free herself, Hailynn lifted her right leg despite the bruised hip and aimed for the lower side of his groin. The thrusting kick, while powerful, had no affect upon him other than raising the pressure upon her already suffering ribcage. Obviously, her kick in that certain region only made matters worse.

Hailynn looked up to his face. The turanic soldier spoke non-understandable words, slowly and calmly, as if he tried to hell to give up.  
He repeated his words again. Unable to breath, she was at the bursting point of failing totally... but just before she lost mind, she reminded herself of Aira... and the crew of the 'Vjel-Amaj'... They needed her... She just could not die _now_...

At the very last moment, her mind snapped once more out of its misery just as the adrenaline rush flew through her. All of her knowledge in hand-to-hand combat ran before her eyes. Hailynn's eyes looked down from the dreadful face of the hateful turanic that was killing her until she spotted the spot her mind focused on... A weak spot!

Having almost all of his force upon his leg and foot, she understood that he was not as secured as he may have thought. Striking her bruised knee against the rear of his leg, it automatically bent, reacting to the force that pushed into its joint.

At the same time she was able to regain breath, she spun the side of her body against the other leg, causing the tall hulking soldier to loose balance and stumble away to the side.  
Hailynn needed to use this vital to regain some of her lost breath. However, Hailynn gasped several times and breathing did not really help since the air was thin... Whatever was going on upon this ship and this area, she was running out of time.

The turanic soldier suddenly shouted at her and pulled a very sharp and threatening looking knife from behind. A long blade... long enough to kill any humanoid being by a single stab... He maintained an aggressive stance while slowly but skillfully swirling the knife in a provoking manner like a snake haunting its prey.

The weary hiigaran woman stood upon shaky legs – but despite her slightly ripped uniform skirt, messed-up jacket and face, it only revealed her physical status... It was the inner-fire within her that kept her awake, anxious and angry. Engaging a defensive combat stance at first, Hailynn needed to trust her knowledge... This was going to be more than a test for her life.

She insulted him with a much harsher voice than ever – A lot more different than the _usual_ Hailynn.

Lunging ahead, the knife of the soldier swiped at blazing speed!  
Just about capable of evading it, Hailynn's arm received a cut, but she did not respond to the pain. Another swipe, a revered down-thrust attempting to cut her fatally – but only trimmed rear of her hair, followed by a third attack, which was a horizontal swipe that only scratched the upper layer of her shirt...

Another vicious and lunging attack – but this one aimed for her rushing heart!

"No you won't... !"

This time, she took advantage of his offensive and overhasty attack!  
Grappling her attacker's arm, she skillfully twisted his arm to point of being able to knock it off and force him to cold floor by performing a reversed foot-swipe against his forwarding heel. By now, the turanic had understand that the female _weakling_ was a lot smarter than he at first thought.

Lunging upon him, Hailynn's thighs covered his torso until she was able to pushed both ahead over each of his arms. Despite his strength, he was unable to get up – He truly underestimated this puny kushan that now skillfully tackled him down! A single but painful punch that struck upon his tough skull was the sign that Hailynn had forged severe anger against him.

One of his hands grabbed the side of her severely bruised him, enforcing a lot more pain that it already emitted. Hailynn used her elbow to free her waist and then immediately clenched his thick throat with both of her grips!

Both shouted in pain and hatred. Loosing some of her concentration, the man's other arm freed itself and clutched his grip around her neck as well. Hailynn gasped, but that did not stop her. This was endgame, a fight to death. Hailynn knew only one thing for sure: He was a living being, just as vulnerable as any other one despite his superior strengths.

Using her elbow to push his arm and its grip away from her throat, she took advantage to disorientate him by smashing a pack of her soymilk-ration from her belt upon the turanic's face. Already more angry than ever, she lost control of herself...

Hailynn became so berserk that she began to punch wildly upon his face, each punch bloody and painful than the other. Each time the soldier tried to grab her throat or any other attempt in freeing himself ended with Hailynn vigorously punching before his hands clutched her throat again.

Frequently did she pull the collar rim of his armored suit and pummeled him - again and again. The hulking turanic soldier fought against her strikes but never really could withstand them, lastly not even able to gain the upper hand. The severely hurt woman lost her mind, cried loudly and fell into a murderous frenzy...

**- Aira's Salvation -**

Her blackout vanishes  
Sobs and minor but painfully shouts are heard throughout the sinister corridors and the heightened position.  
She slowly came to her senses. An outright dreadful return to reality, though...  
Hailynn's heavy breathing and moaning hollowed throughout the dark surroundings as she fearfully slid her bruised legs and stinging hip away from the body that _finally_ stayed lifelessly. Under the influence of psychical and emotional agony, and suffering from intense nausea, only recently had she vomited the least from her body. She panted and gasped several times.

A smeared pool of blood, droplets of saliva and lastly her stomach content only gave the slightest hint of what truly happened. Hailynn vainly tried to cool herself down with her scratched hand. Her uniformed jacket with a missing Krin'sa insignia was now stained with a lot more than the coffee mark from before.

The corpse ahead of her stayed where it was. Lifelessly. The mouth wide open, the face smeared with a white fluid – obviously, he was killed by her cause. The turanic stayed silently at its spot. Next to his head lied a smashed fluid ration of soymilk...

The crushing pain upon her chest, her nearly strangled throat and the utterly intense disgusting smell of rotted death that stung her nose made the matters worse. However, the air was getting dangerously thin - but luckily, she remained conscious. Despite all sore bruises spread everywhere among her body, her voice sounded as if she was desperately _craving_ for something. Her heart raced and pounded so hardly that she shivered as her hand fought on the backside of her belt, trying to pull out the small handheld injection gun.

The pale face and the urging woman was the omen that showed that her subconsciousness **viciously** longed for the _fix_. The addiction was at its climax...

Unfortunately having the left sleeve of her arm with a small rip at the joint of her arm, it gave the perfect spot for the secured needle. Hailynn mumbled and slurred words, rather answering her own speech in this somewhat confusing self-conversation...

The vein revealed itself, seemingly awaiting the infusion and yet the shaking aim of the needle hovered over her arm. She stuttered further to herself...  
The urge was getting more intense as the needle approached her arm.

_Who sniff are you – Who are nggggrrrgh you – you worthless..._, her voice frequently mumbled – Obviously, the dreaded personality of her other ego. It had no name...  
Hailynn bit her teeth together.

Just before the needle pierced her skin, the tip of it scratched the upper layer of the skin, leaving a thin trail of blood as her hand anxiously tossed the injection gun over the edge of the railing...  
A moment went by before she suddenly fought against the pain to get up. She limped and cried with every painstaking movement, leaving the dead body behind. She was in desperate need for an intense dose of cortisine... that she just threw away into the seemingly endless pit for good along with its additional capsules.

The total recall of her dreadful past, from the time between her childhood, the Kiith Delixa, to the vaygr war, tormented her mind, led by her second personality somewhat dauntingly intimidating herself.

Her shoulder and balance repeatedly knocked and slid against the unfamiliar solid wall of the corridor... but she did manage to remember the route from the smashed datapad...

Limping to her handgun, she lifted it up and aimed it towards the body of the turanic soldier. It took her a while until she lowered it again; He was dead after all... but other than that, a single question bugged her: Were there more of his kind here in this _forsaken_ place?

Deep within, Hailynn knew she was not far from her destination, the place where she could find the lost kadeshi girl. She needed to find her... and save her.

But she needed to withstand her other self however. The monologizing hiigaran woman insulted herself frequently. All her life long had she wanted this dreaded personality to vanish and never come back... yet, it saved her life. A confusing twist of hallucinations and voices from her flawed childhood plagued her mind. Her steps tapped throughout the dark corridor as she left the dead body behind, lastly repeating her name quietly to herself.

Shodanii's Chamber  
Almost fifteen minutes later...  
Aira suddenly woke up, her eyes wandered everywhere in desorientation. Her mind was in severe disorder... but she was able to remember. Bubbles touched her cheek. Slowly releasing her arms from Shodanii's dead physical body, Aira floated a long while in front of it. She stared upon it in sorrow. Surprised by strange darkness, the kadeshi girl gulped. The region around the whole spherical chamber was not totally darkened, but the thrown shadows did scare her.

"Young mind...", Shodanii's voice hollowed amidst her chaotic mind, "Chaosss... may reign in your soul... but have patience – have patience... I..."

Aira looked upon Shodanii's physical body, "I... I am failing... now... Young mind... I will return... I sense... a bound being... approaching this chamberrr... A trusted being..."

Shodanii's thoughts neglected Aira, leaving the girl alone within the water. A _trusted_ being?  
Turning around, Aira felt the brief presence of the being at the very edge of the whole area. Though unexplainable for her, she did wonder how it was possible.

What was that?

A voice shouted from afar – but not within her mind. Again, the voice shouted...

The voice echoed too many times for it to be understandable. Ignoring her severe headache and the chaos within her mind, Aira hesitantly released her arms from Shodanii's dead body.

Aira needed to trust Shodanii's words – All this time she had been truthful to her. Several moments passed by before Aira finally managed to swim and climb out of Shodanii's chamber.  
Her surroundings were lot darker than before. Perhaps it had to do with the power failure she and the enigmatic taiidan being had frequently suffered.

For a brief moment, Aira suddenly felt woozy. With the sudden need for oxygen, Aira fell to her knees and released the depleted fluid from her lungs before she took a deep gasp for air. Aira was soaking wet, every single inch of her was outright drenched.

Shocked by the voice, Aira recognized the shaky voice that yelled once more.

Barely able to distinguish the person, Aira nervously raised herself and took a step away from the podium ring of Shodanii's chamber. Her purple eyes widened.

It was Hailynn, her caretaker, that stood far away at the access gateway to this gigantic hall. Dropping her sidearm, Hailynn took several steps ahead as she held her slightly dislocated shoulder... It took a short while until Aira was able to percept Hailynn better... By now, the Snyrdrolite puddle had grown larger just by standing there.

"A-Ai... Aira...!", Hailynn stuttered.  
Finally, Hailynn found the girl she strived for. The kadeshi girl did not answer, therefore was she too bashful. A sudden recall scare the girl, the frightening intimidation that caused her hand to feel upon her swollen cheek. Aira took a step backwards and closer to the podium. Hailynn was only six meters away, but with each slow step she made, the girl cowered away.  
"P-Please... Don't go...", Hailynn continued, "...Don't... leave me..."

The intimidated girl did not know what to say but listened to what Hailynn said:

"A-Aira... I've done many... things – Many wrong things... in my life! You have no idea... How much I hate my life... but never have I hated it more than what I've done to our... friends... to you...", the hiigaran woman needed to stop, she could not walk any further, "I've hurt you... Aira... I understand that you hate... me. Many people in my life lost faith in me, Aira... I've lost their faith. Maybe that's why I've been such a screwed person. sniff I've been taking drugs – Ai'... It changed me... My thoughts, my actions... It took control of me... Gods of Kharak, I've _punched_ the very soul... of a girl who is the most important being in my life! I-I cannot bear to apologize or plea for salvation – I am too ashamed of my deeds – Nothing could cleanse my pity..."

Several drops suddenly tapped below Hailynn upon the floor.  
As Aira listened to her, it became clear to her that Hailynn was severely wounded.  
Nonetheless, despite Aira being a frightful adolescent girl, she still was able to distinguish that Hailynn spoke from the deep of her sorrowed heart.

"I'm a _monster_... Aira... An ill-minded... augmented _monster_! I hate myself...", the woman cried, her emotions already out of control, "I understand... your fear... _Never could I dare to ever promise to you again_... I've failed you, Aira... I dare not to say how much... I love you as part of our family... but please... Please... T-Take... this..."

Hailynn sobbed several times. Her hand – actually her whole body – trembled in such manor that she had trouble at first trying to grab the object that was safely concealed in her messed-up uniform's pocket. A rock?

Aira's violet eyes stared upon the Hailynn's hand, but did not know what to think of it. The hiigaran woman held up the strange looking _rock_ she insisted to take from the nabaali subordinate back then.

Hailynn coughed but laughed shortly before she frowned again, "This... object... It was found in the comet, Aira... The _comet_... That comet you called 'Tear'. That fool Asad found it and wanted to get rid of it – Frell with him... I-I always wanted to bow and respect your religion, Ai' – I know how much it means to you as a being far away from your Homeworld! The drugs... My other... _soul_ – My inner _demon_ took control of me... I'm messed up, Aira... I don't want to scare you... but I'm frakked up beyond all recognition... I don't know... gasp I don't know if I'll survive this... one", each pause in Hailynn's speech was hearable by her long-gasp breathing, obviously, she seemed to have slight difficulties and very concerning health issues, " But listen... You may not b-believe it... but I always trusted you... I may have lost your faith... Your _embracing_ love upon me... but I know how much your soul endeavored for something... This 'tear' is from _her_, Aira! It's from Kadesha – believe it or not – I know Kadesha's sorrowed for Rahji... I must confess that I had doubts but this is the proof, Aira – Evidence... It is and always had been something worth to believe in! I don't care if it is a _scientific_ fact or a mystical belief... Whatever it is... It's _real_, Ai'.. It's..."

The pain within Hailynn's chest forced her down. Only now did it become clear that she was a lot deeper in dilemma than she expected... Addicted and longing for a drug she threw away, physically wounded to the point of having issues with breathing, shaking and shivering like a cold fish on land and her soul shattered by the fact that she had hurt the only people she loved was truly a terrifying reality for her.  
The Commander of the Amaji Navy painfully laid her back upon the cold floor... Not only did the pain overwhelm her, it was the fact that she was _tired_, war-weary and mentally exhausted.  
"Please... I-I'm afraid of being alone, Ai'... I'm afraid of it... too... I understand that you fear me... but please don't go... Please don't -"

Feeling a sudden motion, Hailynn's head was lifted up slightly by gentle hands and cushioned upon a soft but soaking wet lap. Several drops of 'water' fell upon her face. For a long time, this was the real first time Hailynn felt comfort, "Wha- What are you...?"

"My naji!", Aira shouted at Hailynn, "You were blessed by the 'Tear of Kadesha'... H-How?! But-", the kadeshi girl's mind was still confused, not only by all of what she had experienced with Shodanii but now with the truthful words and deed of Hailynn.

"Nggggh-gasp Aira, I always... wondered how that _world_ of yours is?"

"My Naji – It is a beautiful world... Kadesha's embrace is nothing I can explain with words of my own. – But listen, my soul may have been punished by your hand – but never was I to hate you, Hailynn, never! You are my naji – Your hand, your mind shall always guide me! Sins never can be avoided, it is part of us – I fear you... Hailynn... But never could I end my embrace to you - and you are gifting me with Kadesha's Tear! Please, heed my voice!", the girl shouted upon Hailynn, trying to keep her failing attention awake, "I redeem you of your sins, Hailynn, I _redeem_ you! Please!"

Hailynn still heard her words... Unbelievable, but she heard it, "S-Salvation... I never... thought... "

"Hailynn, my words may sound bewildering – but you have accepted me into your family! How... How could I be unforgiving?"

"If I only... I wish I could promise you one last thing... if I could only bring you back to _your Homeworld_... Aira..."  
Aira's hands curled themselves around Hailynn's head and soon, they grabbed her naji's cold hands. Hailynn shivered so much that Aira feared a lot more for her naji than her own innermost fear. The girl wiped both of their tears from her cheeks.

"My soul suffers from the truth never to ever feel the warmth of Kadesha's embrace again, my naji... but for the love of the sungods, I could never leave you or your beloved family behind...", the kadeshi girl quietly said to Hailynn, "I need you... Hailynn... Never have I felt generous to be aside of-"

Hailynn fainted but shook a lot more than before. Having not the slightest idea what to do, the kadeshi girl shouted several times for her caretaker who did not respond. Aira feared the worst but began to talk about all of her experiences with the enigmatic Shodanii, unthoughtful sharing all she learned from the near transcendent being and how much she needed Hailynn. But Hailynn did not hear her words.  
Desperately crying for her caretaker to wake up, Aira began to pray for her soul. The pleas in her kadeshi language echoed loudly but endlessly throughout the gigantic hall...


	16. Chapter 16 Favoring Shodanii

As time went by, a strange data transmission penetrates the layers of gas, only moments away until it invisibly breaches through the vast field of hulks and debris that encircles the enormous disabled mothership within its spherical gravity field. Several deep beeps, tones, signals and a voice are transmitted upon the frequency that is soon to be intercepted by the single hidden amaji communication satellite...

A tight grip suddenly grabbed his neck. Gasping for air, he fought trying to remover her hand from his neck. Unable to speak clearly, he repeated her name, barely understandable for her to regard. Rushing over to assist him, another man shouted at her and fortunately released her hand from the neck of his colleague. Tightening both of his hands around hers, he frequently tried calling her back to her senses. Her eyes and reactions already told him that she was totally disorientated.

"Gasping Should... Should I get the A-Injector to calm her d--"

The other man signaled him to stay, it seemed as if he was slowly getting her attention. Noticing her calming down, the man relieved his hand from hers and laid both upon her shoulders as he tried to calm her down further.

A whole nightmare through her mind, a recall of nearly all of the dreadful events she had experienced... She blinked several times. Her eyes wandered everywhere aimlessly before they crossed his. A familiar language...  
"Commander Delixa... Krin'sa – Calm down – Calm down... Everything will be fine...", the man said down to her.  
Up to now had Hailynn notice that she was lying on the cold floor, her head resting upon a strangely hard object that seemed to be used as a 'pillow' for her head. Hailynn moaned a long sigh before she recognized the man's uniform.

_A... medic..._?

"Alright – I think she'll be fine... I hope so...", the medic above her said to the other one, "I'll handle her for now. You should recover – And breathe slowly!"

Hailynn tried to lift her torso from the floor, but after gaining a small angle, a stabbing pain among the lower right side of her chest and her shoulder forced her down again.  
"Whoa-Whoa, you better stay down, Commander!", the medic demanded to her, "You've taken an awfully heavy beating – You've got a seriously snapped rib and I just treated both that and your dislocated shoulder... I'll spare you on details but I've patched you up so avoid moving around! We need to get you to sickbay as soon as possible, you will be needing a professional nanobot treatment."

"W-Where are we?", Hailynn painfully sighed.

As she looked around slowly, the medic explained, "We're still in this 'core'... bridge place of this mothership..."  
Hailynn soon became aware that they were still within the gigantic hall as he spoke. Many voices and speeches echoed among the surroundings. Biting her teeth together, Hailynn suddenly tried to raise her torso again, this time ignoring the warning of the medic and the pain that tried to force her back. Rather than intervening, he instead used his side to support her back from falling back again.

"A-Aira... Where is Aira...?", she asked with a very worried face.  
"She's fine... Well – Not... quite..."  
"What do you mean?!"  
"Whew Hmm, where should I start?", the medic hesitated to answer at first, but then spoke further after forming some thoughts, "We found the girl alone with you in this huge bridge sector – place - whatever, Commander. She must had been waiting here with you for a _very_ long time. Commander Orelis ordered us to form search parties to retrieve the both of you and that was almost looks upon his watch seven or eight hours ago, ma'am. A pretty long time..."

Hailynn looked at him, then turned her view upon the several groups of people spread throughout the whole colossal bridge section. Some of them transported and carried things; another group fiddled around the unknown consoles while others spoke with each other – far too many ongoing speeches for her to understand individually. However, her eyes did notice the vast differences between all their uniforms.  
Only a couple of them were marines who stood guard or helped carrying objects over somewhere while the rest seemed to be a total mix of amaji and non-amaji helpers...

The medic explained further, "When Orelis called for assisting volunteers, a large group of people insisted to help out along with the expeditionary teams that had already been throughout the area. We've stumbled over many things on the way – Foremost, we found the corpse of a... turanic... man in armor... but never ind that – We found you suffering under severe ague and withdrawal symptoms aside to all of those physical wounds. To be honest, ma'am, several of us weren't sure if you were going to survive. But most of all, your condition must have frightened the kadeshi girl. She's over there with Cebbs points with his finger to a certain region. You can believe us that we had a very hard time trying to calm her down. She must have suffered a nervous breakdown...", he explained and sighed again, "It's impossible to talk to her right now. She frequently talks about weird things. Aira does seem to understand us at one point, but then she starts talking about some weird experience she had with that Show-... Shod-... the talking A.I. – and before we actually get to understanding things, she gets too excited, hyperventilates and then starts talking in kadeshi..."

"I killed that turanic – I think", Hailynn suddenly said, however slightly uncertain though.

"Ma'am?"  
The nightmare that shortly repeated itself within her mind disturbed her.

"I must have... bumped into him... He tried to kill me – Don't ask me why the frell he's on this mothership..."

"That does explain all of your injuries, Krin'sa..."  
The hiigaran woman lifted her hand and observed it for quite a while. Surprisingly for her, she was no longer shivering. Albeit her looks being messed up more than before, her skin had several transparent band-aids upon the abrasions.

"Dr. Jonas ordered me to take these _treatments_ with me - confidentially, ma'am. It looks like it was a good thought and it took much of it to actually stabilize your health status. The treatment I applied contained E-Phrine II, inhibitor substances and a weaker substitute drug as well – I don't know if it will really help you... but good thing you had those lifesign-emitters on you", the medic said, then leaned forward to whisper into her ear, "Ma'am, did you do as the doctor ordered? I feared applying an overdose, but we medics saw no other choice and --"  
"I got rid of the cortisine pack..."

He dropped his shoulders, "C-Commander - Are you out of your mind?! With all needed respect, ma'am, but that was mindless of you!", the medic whispered back to her but with a slightly surprised voice, "What were you thinking?!"

"Sigh I... I don't know... I just wanted to get rid of it, free myself from that crap for good... I tossed it over the railing where I potentially killed that turanic... soldier...", Hailynn remembered some of her experiences again, "That sadistic... son-of-a..."

"You tossed the whole treatment pack over the railing? Gods. Jonas is going to kill me. He told you to--"

"Enough, now. Tell the other medic about my apology for attacking him and thank you for your efforts, now ... nnngh", Hailynn painfully sighed again and fought to get up, "Get me to -- Aira.".

"P-Please, Krin'sa, don't move..."

"Stop calling me that."

Again, the medic wanted her to stay down, but lastly, his denial would only cause her more stress. Reconsidering his common sense, he supported her by basing his shoulder under her arm.

Many people transported strange hulks of technical parts that seemed to originate from various computer terminals and other major interfaces of the area. Practically everybody was examining everything, each step of the place was interesting and offered much for the curious.  
Meanwhile, the female operative called Velle Cebbs interacted with the kadeshi girl who sat on the floor.

"Aira – please. Take it easy --"  
Aira gripped her hands upon Velle's jacket. The girl's eyes were outright wide and full of fear. Almost all this time had Velle been assigned to keep an eye on the girl, she tried to understand her gibberish but rather failed.

"U'na makuri! Kadesha's hope ateg'ri! Seven twelve dash T-R degree! Circles! Ma'ged eni'fren! Sector... Sector twelve... Galvanite rich... Shadows are evolving beyond their eyes – They are blind! Please, we must endeavor rescue..."  
Aira kept speaking - often nonsense - without pause until the point where she began to breathe and speak too fast due to all of her excitement. And again, tears ran down her face.

"Man, what's _wrong_ with that girl?", one marine asked from the side who just settled a crate upon the floor as a sort of table for a portable laptop computer.  
Velle curled her arms around the frail girl before she replied to the marine, "Would you mind to shut up?! Go somewhere else!"  
"Sheesh..."

This was the first time Velle was this close to a kadeshi, furthermore did it scare her slightly. Taking this career path as a supporting operative on naval ships came a lot different than she expected. It was more than crazy to ever expect ending up on a derelict mothership.

"Aira", a very familiar voice said from behind.

"Aira", she whispered at her, "Check it out – Nothing happened to her, look", Velle loosened her arms and lowered her shoulder so the adolescent girl could glimpse over it. Aira shrieked slightly as she raised herself up upon her legs in astonishment.  
And there she stood, hard to believe that she was alive despite her miserable shape. Medical patches and bandages were seen everywhere upon her. The man in the strange uniform with small red crosses upon his collar carried her injured naji. Hailynn was alive, rather seriously beaten and in need of rest and recovery, but alive. More tears ran down the girl's cheeks.

"Go ahead, don't be shy, Aira – Go to her", Velle said to her, showing that Hailynn was real.

"She really must have thought you wouldn't survive, Krin'sa...", the medic whispered into Hailynn's ear.

"N-Na-Naji?...", the kadeshi girl stuttered in her accented voice, "Naji!"  
The girl suddenly ran ahead with fast but clumsy steps. She was too eager and desperate to feel Hailynn's warmth. Aira cried as she ran her way to the injured officer woman. The medic smiled as he released himself from Hailynn's side since he would only be in the way. Led by the sorrows of her emotions, the girl's arms finally reached her and embraced her caretaker.  
Hailynn suddenly bit her teeth together - again that same incredible pain struck her right side. Obviously, Aira was unknowingly dealing great pressure upon Hailynn's wounded ribcage. The pain was so dreadfully intense that it brought Hailynn to the edge of fainting. However, she simply could not push Aira away. The girl was simply more than overjoyed of seeing and feeling her. As the girl wept in joy, Hailynn looked up and away, hardly believing what she survived long hours ago.

During the time the two hugged each other, the medic slowly walked over to Velle and gave her a friendly elbow bump.

"Good job there, Cebbs", he said to her.

"Thanks – Well, there was not much I could do really..."

"You kept her hopes up and stayed with her all this time through – That was the best thing you've done."  
Velle smiled back at him shortly before she lowered her view, "There is still something strange about what the girl said..."

"You two", Hailynn suddenly said with a oddly deep voice, "Tell me, what is going on in this place mhhhgh?"  
"Eh, yes, ma'am..."

**Chapter 16 - Favoring Shodanii... **

Bridge of the 'Vjel-Amaj'

"- Huh? What did you just say?", Orelis asked from the other side of the bridge and shortly dismissed one of the bridge operatives back to his station.  
"I said I've picked up something – A transmission of some sort, sir", Packard repeated.  
"Hmpf. Sure that's not some echoed signal? We've had plenty of those bouncing feedbacks lately --"  
"- But this one is coming from the outside side..."

"Nothing to be concerned about. I'm sure of that, Packard."  
"No, not outside like 'outside our ship' – Outside the mothership. The comsat in space picked up this signal that came beyond the mothership's vicinity..."

One of Orelis' eyebrows raised itself as he approached the communication station.

"Alright. Let us hear what it is."

The few other operatives of the bridge shortly listened to the sound that echoed among all speakers. Indeed, it did seem to be a transmission, garbled and accompanied by various sounds of interlaced signals, probably carrier-waves supporting the transmission itself. A deep voice mumbled throughout the noise but was barely understandable. The voice repeated itself several times.

"Hmm, auto-filtering is not helping much."  
"Well... Now what is _this_ about?", Orelis asked, "Can you filter the noise out?".  
"Sorry, sir – but I'm not qualified enough to do it manually. There is somebody who could do so, though."

"And I know who. Get Kelsea up here, asap. No idea what this is all about but she'll know what to do and decipher it."  
"Yes, sir – Oh yeah, we've received word that Commander Delixa and Aira had been found and that they are _okay_. Right now, the search parties are gathering valuable information and data from the bridge section."  
"Understood. Just stay in touch with them. Sigh Still docked and things keep happening..."  
"Roger."

Engineering Deck, rear section

At the same time, Chief Engineer Brogan clapped his hands together and cheered, "Woohoooooo! Good job, everybody, good job! clapping"  
A moment of congratulations went around as the groups of engineers applauded each other. Brogan walked along the railing during his observation upon their successful work: Retaining operational status of the lower starboard conduit of the hyperdrive module, which has been quite a _problem child_ since the ship emerged from hyperspace.  
This was a great moment to be proud of, not only that the ship was capable of hyperjumping but the fact that his crew managed to succeed in repairing several segments of one of the ship's most delicate systems. Despite the ship capable of using several forms of hyperjump techniques, these selected few were highly dangerous and never really tested. Bentusi technology, while trusted, was still an enigmatic system not to be underestimated.

The complete segment of the lower starboard conduit soon reconnected itself with the central core of the hyperdrive module, once again combining itself with the rest of the module's grid and field generators.

"This is very good news, men and women, very good news! Align it to the lower nacelle so it can be dispatched when we are ordered to expand the exteriors again."

One of his engineering specialists came to his side, his face did not seem really pleased, "Chief, don't want to break the good mood, but we've only got it operational to a certain point - if I am following things correctly."

"Nothing we should really be worried about, or?"

"Not sure, Chief. Field specialists and others ran several simulated stress tests and seems as if the conduit is still instable... I don't know if it will really survive the stress of hyperspace on the way back to Amaj – By all means, not with the ship flowing _against_ the current."  
"Well that doesn't really sound good, but we've not much of a choice. It should still hold long enough to get us out of this system for sure."

"Furthermore, we were not able to completely seal the decks. Life support may be able to maintain life, but we shouldn't take any risks. I suggest attaining the off-limit status for the outer sections and the certain decks", his subordinate engineer suggested.

"Fine for me. I'm sure the crew will survive living with vaygr... Frell, well I have to", Brogan smirked, "Anyways, is there anything else on the list of priorities?"

"Not really, they are more optional, sir."

"Alright. Look, I'm sure we can count on this conduit. As long as we do several stops between the jumps, things should be just fine. I'm sure we can avoid a conduit breach. We just need to hope that nobody comes on the idea of performing a longjump again."  
"What makes you so sure, Chief?"  
"These conduits were built on Hiigara."  
His subordinate frowned...

Cargo Bay II

Ignoring the ongoing action of people and the transport of goods and other large things among his surroundings, the tall vaygr pilot in usual bulky suit stood in front of the battle-scared coned red fighter that quietly settled next to the ancient red-yellow striped taiidan interceptor that was retrieved by the amaji. Many thoughts seemed to fill his mind as he continuingly stared upon both fighters, thoughts of the past, present and future.

Not knowing that he was being observed, a young woman quietly stared upon his back from a position not far away from where he stood. She stood two long hours at her remote location. Unintentionally, she was somewhat spying on him... but without any further notice, she suddenly took the first step ahead and approached the silent vaygr man from behind.

"H-Hey..", a female voice shyly sounded from behind.  
Taking only a short glimpse, Ray recognized the young woman, but then returned his view upon the fighters, "I greet you, Ensign Fenna of the Amaj", his monotone deep voice replied.  
"P-Please, I told you to call me Fenna... or Fen. M-mind if I... accompany you?", she stuttered, "You... You can say 'no' if you want to be... alone?"

Fenna somehow sensed that he wanted to be alone, but instead of leaving, she somewhat jumped over her own shadow by remaining slightly behind him. Insisting to change the topic before he could answer, she suddenly asked, "You seem to be here for a long t-time. Is something disturbing you?"

"I was in deep thought, Fenna of the -- ... Fenna."  
"Deep thought? Does something disturb you?"  
"The symbols upon this taiidan fighter. I have seen them before. The insignia of my former crusade shows origination of these characters. Evidence, that my people and I are descendants of these taiidans as well. It seems as if the people of this derelict mothership resemble of the same origin of my culture. Scientists of your allied kiith seem to be sure of this. As so, I have concerns of my kind's future. Our standing as vaygr refugees is flawed upon all eyes. Political asylum will surely be a complicated undertaking. Our origins will surely affect our future negatively."

"Don't worry, Ray. We will take care of you and your people... We amaji are not like those throughout the galaxy..."

"You must understand that I have doubts, amaji, I have doubt. Our survival may end forsaken..."

"Stop it... Please stop talking like that."

Remaining silent, Fenna came very close to his side after he spoke his concerns. Suddenly, Ray felt a strange contact upon his gloved right hand, the hand of the amaji woman curling upon it. Ray's hand did not respond and remained as it was. He was rather unsure in how to interpret her action but it did seem as if she wanted to show some sort of consideration for his troubled situation. These amaji people were indeed strange.

Bridge of the 'Vjel-Amaj'

Meanwhile...  
After several mind-numbing attempts of filtering the intercepted transmission, Kelsea threw her back upon the seat and rubbed her face. Up to now, the remote communication satellite had intercepted further transmissions.  
"How's it going, Kelsea?", Packard asked, "You look like you could need a break."  
"Gods, this thing is giving me a headache."

Kelsea trusted her knowledge deeply as a communication specialist. Being a linguistic expect, she knew that the voice she heard was a familiar language, but was far too garbled to percept it correctly.

"Maybe it's a garbled radio echoes from outer space after all."  
"No, it's not. I can clearly distinguish pronunciations... Besides, the comsat caught a lot more transmissions."  
Packard repeated his suggestions on several filtering techniques, but she had already tested those.

"Or you could try... whoa --", he said and paused as he heard several sounds sounding from his headset.  
"I'm getting it in too, what's going on?"

Sitting back down upon the station, Packard flipped several keys and adjusted his primary screen to the occasion.

"Intercepted another one, Pack'?"  
"Not really... I'm picking several messed-up waves out there... Here, listen yourself", he replied back to her while he transferred the data over to her station.

Listening carefully, she eavesdropped into her headsets. Various types of interferences flushed throughout the wave, annoyingly disturbing her concentration... but amidst the tense noises, she was able to percept several speeches. One... no... two distinct languages... as if they were interacting with each other. Kelsea's eyes widened suddenly as she finally recognized the voices. Packard's friendly smile suddenly disappeared as he saw her shoulders dropped, wordlessly turning her view slowly to his.

Inner dome - Shodanii Chamber

After listening to long explanations, Hailynn slowly became up-to-date with all the events that were occurring just now as well as some of the history of the abandoned taiidan mothership. The supporting people were told to disassemble and secure all sorts of datacores and many other data storages from all mainframes throughout this huge chamber, practically anything that had vital or interesting information on them.  
Nonetheless, those who were worried of Hailynn's health greeted her with respect and were pleased to see that she was still alive. According to Velle's clarifications, it seemed as if the being called 'Shodanii' was offering all of her knowledge and data to them. Aira held Hailynn's hand as she slowly limped along - The girl being on one side, Velle on the other. It took a very long while until Aira had calmed down from her anxiety. The three slowly neared the end of the 'tour'.

"Wow... Guess that explains how this mothership got here...but now where is this 'Shodanii' lady I keep hearing about?", Hailynn asked.

Velle stopped and pointed at the spherical shell that was filled with the water-like substance. Like the rest of their surroundings, Hailynn's eyes immediately noticed the numbers of bullet holes and cracks spread among it.

"In there? Is she...?"  
"She's dead, ma'am", Velle said with sorrow tone in her voice, "Aira stated she was shot - Executed... many decades ago. I have no idea how she figured that out, to be honest, but there are no doubts that she is right, Commander."  
"Shodanii's mind...", Aira noted quietly with a lowered view, "I-It is still - persisting within the... computer – High above...". As the girl ended her comment, she began to speak confusing words but managed to remain calm.  
"Shodanii only responded shortly when we arrived, Commander. Remote regions including this area is powered but up to now, she remained inactive."

Hailynn looked up and noticed the reversed but severely damaged supercomputer that hung from ceiling down with countless cords, connections and other interfaces connected to the shell. Avoiding several researching groups, the three moved closer to vicinity of the shell with Hailynn at the lead, who wanted to take closer look.

"Whoa, careful!", somebody shouted from a different group and jumped aside, barely dodging the short power surge that threw sparks around.  
"We're fine! We're fine...", he announced afterwards, "aww man...". Obviously, one of the technicians tried to power one of the computer terminals with his rather foreign power generator but fried its circuit board.

Hailynn and the others turned away.

"So, this is the person or thing that lured us over here?", the wrecked hiigaran officer asked.  
"S-She _guided_ us, my naji!", Aira stated loudly at first but then looked down upon the floor again, "She... she did not l-lure us... Her intentions were not... evil..."  
Her caretaker laid her hand upon her head, "Sorry, Ai' – I didn't want to insult you. But what is that fluid in there?"  
"Beats me, Commander", Velle replied and shrug, "Looks like water."

"That would be 'Snydrolite'", a familiar female voice suddenly explained from behind, "a superconductive but entirely semi-intelligent fluid that was formerly used by taiidans for supporting a living being as well as exchanging impulses between a consciousness and unlimited computer interfaces...", Hailynn's eyes widened, but she remained startled as the woman's monotone voice spoke further from behind, "A dangerous fluid, if you ask me. I am _very surprised_ that the body inside that chamber had been killed by lethal shots ultimately...rather than that fatal malfunctioning in the metabolizing aspect of the fluid and the shock transmitted through it."  
The macabre comment sounded sadistic at the same time, "Our beloved leader, Karan S'jet, who brought us to the Homeworld was of course safe of this since the s'jeti scientists provided her body with a different fluid – A very important decision, despite knowing the disadvantage of requiring more neural trunks and implants. A primitive mind would probably say that this 'Shodanii' was the 'Karan S'jet' of the taiidans – who failed, however...", the pure arrogance of the woman was clearly hearable as she approached them, "According to the history data, her body suffered a powerful surging feedback... Silly taiidans and their senseless use of instable flux singularity power, they probably did not have the slightest clue about what they were using..."

Dr. Pethera S'jet joined them from the side. It was simple for Velle to sense the growing tension between the commander and the scientist woman who had straight long black hair and implants.

"Commander... I see, you're a Krin'sa now...", the s'jeti woman noted, "Irrelevant, Delixa. We should focus more on what is trying to hide behind you."

As Pethera approached them, Aira immediately cowered further behind her caretaker. The grip felt upon Hailynn's bruised waist told her that Aira seriously feared this s'jeti woman.

"Pethera, what the frakk are _you_ doing here?", Hailynn questioned with a hatred voice.  
"Orelis asked for volunteers. I assumed my subordinates would be supportive."

_Yeah right_!, Hailynn thought – Pethera was here for a much different matter. A disturbing foreboding told her that Asad was not far away either. No wonder the whole area was crowded with non-amaji operatives.

"Back off, Pethera", the hiigaran officer remarked aggressively, "I don't really care what you are trying to steal from this place, but you better keep your distance from us."  
"Don't be foolish, Delixa. I have no idea through what ridiculous mess you went through, but you look pathetic. You are not in the _condition_ to be threatening me anyhow..."

At a certain point, Pethera was right. Both Hailynn's new kiithidial ranking and current health status was far inferior to Pethera. It was needless to note that Hailynn's appearance was by far more devastated than before. Just for now, Hailynn ignored what could happen in the future.

"Do you know that that _girl_ who is hiding behind you is now somewhat becoming a _clone_ of Shodanii's will...?"  
Hailynn dropped her shoulders, "Yeah... right...", she replied ironically.  
"Well, symbolically, she's becoming one. I can see a lot _more_ than you, Delixa. Have you not noticed the girl speaking of things...? My ocular implant reveals that Aira's cerebral and lobe implants are still receiving an intensive mass of data originating from that chamber... Do you know what this means?"

What disturbed Hailynn most was the fact that Pethera was not looking straight into her eyes but focused down upon the kadeshi girl... as if she somehow gained value in these dreaded s'jeti's eyes.

"Commander. Doctor Pethera S'jet. Please. Don't argue...", Velle appealed to both of them, but it seemed as if they were not listening.  
"Who cares, Pethera?", Hailynn snarled ironically again, "Leave the girl alone."

"I am not going anywhere – and I think you are missing something here, Delixa. That girl's mind is being used as a _database_. Shodanii is loading her up with all of her knowledge and will, aside to the datahulks my men have disassembled. I was already aware that we would probably only find historical nonsense and corroded infolinks... Anyways, they are already bringing most of it back to our ship. But you should be thankful for one thing, Delixa."

"Oh, really...?"

"My research team already decrypted stellar cartography data concerning our retreat out of this system. If it weren't for my team, we would actually be stuck here wondering where to go. Then again, I could simply hold the data back and demand the captain any time to stay longer in this system. There is much to discover..."  
"No chance, bitch. He is no longer in command. Looks like you are not up-to-date – as for I'm in full command now."  
"Watch your mouth, Delixa. You have already dug deep enough for the grave of your career – maybe even your life. But right now, you better let me speak with that girl behind you. She is holding vital information for us."

Aira hands slipped from Hailynn's waist. The pure chaos in her mind was confusing her so much that she curled her hands upon her hair and forehead.

"So what... I'm not letting you lay a hand on her."

"Stupid woman. For hours - and right now - she is still receiving the gift of pure **knowledge** from the only being who ever ventured nearly across the whole galaxy! The being that has interacted with the Bentusi long before our time! Pure knowledge of technology, astronomy... Secrets – All fields of knowledge! I don't care what mother instincts you are trying to put up, but you better move out of the way! The girl is _just_ an entity who happens to be receiving essential data!"

Pethera's voice was so loud that it practically drew everybody's attention as it echoed several times.  
"I don't care!", Hailynn shouted back at the s'jeti woman, "Can't you see that Aira is suffering! Who cares about what you say?!"  
"Knowledge is power, Delixa. And with that kadeshi girl becoming a living omniscient library and galaxy map, you better not stand in our way... The kiith will profit much from her --"

"What the frakk?! I don't know what the frakk you are up to but I'm not going to let you pry Aira like some kind of nutshell!"

"A good idea, but I prefer her alive..."  
Hailynn took a single step ahead. Both women stood only centimeters away from each other, both of their eyes likely stinging each other.  
"Don't you dare mess with the girl or with me now, Pethera! I'm not going to put up with your crap any longer! I don't have a gun right now – but you better knock it off before I do the same like I did on that turanic", Hailynn forcefully yelled at Pethera, "And don't think some kiithid regulation will spare you! I may look ugly – but trust me, I can deal equal wounds..."

Pethera bit her teeth together...

Soon but noticeable, the corner of her eye twitched shortly. Looking down upon Aira once more, it seemed as if the s'jeti woman still had a plan flowing in mind. It had to be that she had something else in mind, "You don't seem to know what will happen in the future, Delixa, but I think I will just leave you with your ignorance. You have no idea what _will happen_ in the future – and there will be no way you can defy it."

"Famous last words. Get lost."  
The s'jeti woman left the group behind, bypassed others and concentrated on finding a specific person she needed to speak with. Within the same moment, all groups reassumed their current tasks.

Velle was outright amazed to experience such harsh interactions. She heard of the gossips but never had she expected them to hate each other so much. As Pethera disappeared among the groups, Hailynn fell slightly to the side.

"C-Commander?!", Velle asked as she caught her.  
"I'm fine – I'm fine..."  
"Ma'am. You need a break, maybe you should --"

An interrupting sound suddenly occurred from above, an alarming sound that immediately gained the attention of everybody. The noise echoed several times throughout the gigantic dome area.  
"What- What the frell's going on?!", somebody shouted, "Did somebody accidentally hit somethin'?!"  
Many confused faces shook their heads and shrugged.

At the same moment, Aira raised her head and looked towards Shodanii's chamber with a troubled face.

""Kushansss...!"", Shodanii's voice suddenly resonated, ""...Alert...""  
Aira repeated Shodanii's words.

""I... Kushanssss... Hiigaranss - Your safety... Your refuge is in dangerrr...!"", Shodanii's double-phased voice alarmed with great concern.

"Damn it, I don't get what's this all about!", Hailynn shouted, "What's going on?!"

""My... awarenesssss... I failed... My mind wasss distracted – Hiigarans... Young mind... I failed...!""

"Failed in what?!"  
"I don't know what she means, Co-Commander!", Velle replied but was more likely confused by the alarming noise like the rest of the people throughout the area.

""They... They have... returrrned... They haaave... returned – Early... Too... Early...!"", the sentient computer voice echoed loudly.

"Shodanii! Who are you talking about?!"

""You... You **mussst** escape...!""

Hearing shouts from behind, Hailynn heard a man calling her name in an urgent matter.

"What is it?!"

"Commander! We've got a situation going on – Bridge Command is trying to contact us but they are not getting through!"

The sudden events came so unexpectedly that Hailynn was simply overwhelmed by all occurrences.

"Hey – What's taking so long?!", Orelis yelled to the other side of the bridge, "Get us in touch with the Delixa or anybody, here and now!"  
"We're trying, sir!", Packard shouted, "But the comsat's array is having trouble penetrating that the area they are in!"  
"For frakk's sake, compensate and get us through! Try to align it to their area from a different angle – Hurry!"

Hailynn immediately pulled the small transmitter from her shoulder radio and attempted to transmit a message, "Delixa to Bridge Command! Do you read me! Come Back!"  
The unit upon her left shoulder only fuzzed with several scrambled sounds.

"Frakk! How can it be that I have a powered antenna and I'm not getting through – didn't you say the comsat was focused on our area?!"

Velle pointed upon Hailynn's shoulder... Unfortunately, Hailynn just noticed that the upper half of the antenna hung down.

""Trusted ssssoul of the young mind... Hailynn of... Delixa – I ssseek your... attention!"", Shodanii's voice called out.

"Yes! What is --?!"

""Trusted soul... Your brethren... The young... You all are in grave... danger! They have... returned!""  
"WHO?!"

Her screens revealed an increasing amount of signals intercepted by the communication satellite, "Comsat is picking up a lot of waves originating from vector two-twelve!", Kelsea shouted and reported the most she could attain from the incoming data, "Unable to count! Whatever is coming – I can confirm that they are - They are turanic...! No... taiidan...! Both!"  
"Another drone can confirm that, X-O", another operative confirmed additionally, "Its picking a massive number up coming from that vector!"

"The fleet... The combined... fleet of the turanic and taiidan survivors... They have returned!", Shodanii announced.  
Foremost, it was Hailynn who frowned the most.  
"You're telling me that the same frakking fleet that left this ship is coming for the mothership?! You can't be serious!"

"Bingo – I've managed to align a signal through, Commander Orelis!"  
"Finally, get me through to them at once!"

""Refuge... Failurrre..."", Shodanii called out, ""I fear for all of you... I fearrr the taiidans... I fearrr the turanicssss... Hiigarans, young mind... You must flee... I beg your soulsss... flee! The fleet... It craves... for the lifeblood of power... Powerrr...""

"I have... failed... Young mind... Your soul... All souls... They all are endangerrred... I bear not to imagine... of your deaths, young mind! I beg all souls... flee...! The sssong... of the young unbound mind musssst... prevail! Hiigarrrran soulssss – I plea to you... Flee!"

Aira suddenly ran ahead to the podium of Shodanii's shell, "No! I cannot leave you...!", the girl cried as her hands slapped the thick shell.

""Hailynn of Delixa-ah..."", Shodanii called out, ""Your mind... must concur...""

"I hear you – Show... Shodanii – What is it?!"

""The mind... The young mind... She trusts you as... the leader of Hiigaransss... I must endeavor yoooou... Heed my... endeavor... to fulfill the _favor_!"

Hailynn limped closer to the shell, "What?... Could somebody tell me what she is trying to say?"  
""Hailynn... of Delixa... I beg your ssssoul to heed my endeavor... Fulfill my _favor_..."", Shodanii's voice seemed to demand her.  
"A... favor?"

""Delixa of the Hiigarans... For decadezzs... My sssoul has been tormented... by the surviving fleet... My soul is dying... but will never... die"", Shodanii explained, surprisingly, they all could percept deep sorrow among her artificial voice, ""The fleet... craves for the regenerative power...energies... that empowers their hyperspace capabilitiesssss – Everything that needs power... My existence isss-zzz the cause for theirrr return... Despite my soul stripped of the 'Core'... My existence prevailssszzz amidst the supercomputerrrr... My soul infuses the flow of power... I beg you – Dzz-elixa-ah - my deepest endeavor to... fulfill my favor... I beg you: End. My. Existencessz! End.. The... Existence... of... This... Vessel...!""

Every single person throughout the dome threw astonished faces...

Foremost, Hailynn could not believe her ears. Aira yelled constantly upon the shell.

"Commander – I've got a successful uplink to VJ-Bridge Command! Catch!", somebody else from behind shouted and tossed her a portable communication unit over.  
"Delixa here- !"

At last, Orelis finally heard Hailynn's voice and replied, his voice greatly impeded by outer interferences, ""Commander – Finally...!""  
"Orelis – For frakk's sake, what's going on – I hear something is--"

His tension shouted back, ""No time to waste, Hailey! We're picking up big trouble coming in for the mothership!"", not only did Hailynn's eyes widen, but many others who listened as well, ""It's a fleet – a damn huge one! Taiidans and turanics, we can't tell how many or whatever, but they're homin' in! They're coming straight in for the ship! Damn it – I don't know but we're in deep trouble! Pause Hey, Hailynn – You copy?! Hailey?!""

Hailynn heard his garbled voice, but hesitated to answer. Again, Orelis shouted for her but she did not respond. Even Velle shook Hailynn's shoulder to snap out of her seemingly daydream. In fact, Hailynn was startled and troubled – Fighting to think of what to do next.

""Hey – Kelsea, did the signal break on us again?! Increase the signal strength and --!""

"Orelis – We still hear you", Hailynn suddenly replied with a calm voice, "Listen. Is there any sign that we or anything out in space has been detected?!"

""What?! Well – There's a fleet out there, didn't I just say that, Commander?!""  
"No – Listen – Are we compromised?!"

There was a pause in their tense conversation.

Shortly after, Orelis' voice replied, ""It... The whole fleet is approaching the vessel at a slow pace... but we've intercepted communication waves of single frigates closing in on the mothership from a totally different vector – Luckily in the shadow of vessel... I would usually go for the worst, but I guess... No, Hailey... We're not compromised... It doesn't seem as if they discovered any of our remote drone units out in space either. But Kelsea was able to translate some of waves we intercepted earlier – and I don't think you will like it... but it seems as if they frequently tried to hail a ship that docked ahead – Some 'vanguard'... ""

Hailynn's mind began to recapitulate all that she knew along with what she just heard...  
The turanic she met... He must have belonged to so-called vanguard. He must have belonged some sort of advancing party that had dispatched to probably proceed with preparations for the fleet to harvest power.

"Orelis. This is serious!", Hailynn replied, "We must be aware that they have sent an advancing group ahead and it could be that there are more of them throughout the mothership! I don't know, but they are probably sending another group to check out what is going on – We need to get out of here! But let's do this right: It is likely they don't know about our whereabouts or our existence! I want you to kill all terms of communication, maintain radio silence and power down all drones in space! We must maintain subtlety or we're screwed! One last thing... deep breath Shodanii asked us for a last favor -- Whatever, just get things moving!"

""What?! Well... Sigh Fine... Commander, we'll be waiting for you... But don't take your time! We may have enough time before the big fleet arrives, but I don't know if we'll be able to get out of here on time...""  
"Before you kill the drones, I want you to immediately recall everybody and everything back to the 'Vjel-Amaj'! I want everybody to return to the ship at once! WE'RE GETTING OUT OF HERE!"

**- Haste of Fear -**

At the same time, both the exterior crewmen of the settlement camp aside the 'Vjel-Amaj' and the party residing at the core bridge of the mothership hustled and rushed. Both gathered all of their equipment, practically everything and anything they could take with them. The word of trouble regarding the dreadful approach spread in an instant. The taps of boots and hard shoes were heard from all sides as everybody scampered the fast they could.  
Among the chaos, only recently did Hailynn have another argument with Pethera, who denied her team of leaving... but lastly, Hailynn succeeded by threatening her with the fact that neither the marines, nor the 'Vjel-Amaj' would wait for them... To the least of her efforts, Hailynn's words did scare the Pethera's subordinates to concur with the retreat. Alas, Pethera followed, though in nuisance and hatred.

Up to now, Aira pleaded in agony at Shodanii not to sacrifice her existence. The kadeshi girl tried to enter the shell once more but was held back by Velle just on time. Aira cried and fought but did not succeed in freeing herself.

"Cebbs... Bring Aira out of here. That's an order...", the hiigaran commander demanded to the operative that held the excited girl back.

"My naji! Please! sob Do not allow this to happen! Please, I plead you not to fulfill her will! Her song must survive!"

""Please...zzzzshh... Young mind... I beg you... Do not... Intervene... I beg... Youuuu...""  
Contemporarily, the available group of marines jogged over to Hailynn, one of them tossing her personal sidearm he retrieved a while ago.

"Shodanii, can you hear me?", Hailynn asked calmly...

""Yesss... Hailynn.. of Delixa... – Will your soul fulfill... my favor?""

Hailynn paused.  
To a certain point, she felt absurd but shocked as well. The thoughts of ending Shodanii's existence equaled euthanasia... It frightened her deeply, but her will remained focused.  
The female officer took a step ahead, her eyes focused upon the barely visible body deep within the shell, "Shodanii... As the leader of the 'Vjel-Amaj', I have decided... to accept your plead. What do you want us to do...?"

Yet another pause...  
Aira's voice cried loudly from behind to not concur with Shodanii's wish, but she had no chance in intervening. The unbound soul of the mothership wanted to end its existence... It tormented the girl's soul so much that both tears and hopeless prayers flew endlessly. Her cries and deep sorrows even affected Velle, who stopped shortly and turned around as she held the girl back. Other crewmen and supporting operatives carried their equipment, the greater portion already departed from the ship.

""Hiigarans... I thank you..."", the double-phased voice of Shodanii replied, ""Please... Hiigaranssz... Heed my plea...""

Hailynn took a deep breath as the armed men and her listened carefully:

""Countless soulsszzz have lost their lives, Hiigarans... All of our soulszzz, are at unrest... Please... You must... lead us to eternal peace... I have... witnessed... every single... death. Your people have... our legacy. Please... return our story to the Taiidans. Eternal peace... iszzz our only... salvation. Hiigarans... I beg you: Interfere with the powerrrr plants gridzzz... to cause the greater flux generator to... endorse a hyper-exponential... gravitational field... - Enforce... the end of my existence... by destroying the supercomputer...""

All marines looked at each other with surprised faces.  
""Hiigarans... I beg you... I can no longer refuge your souls from dangers... Time will be sufficient for... the 'Vjel-of-Amaj' to flee... the field of death... Field of death... will cause by... the interference of the flux generatorszzzz... Hull... Devastating... Implosion will... occurrr... leading to... reaction of all fluxing fields... Explosion... Salvation...""

"Shodanii...", Hailynn's calm voice asked, "Why didn't you do this from the first place?"  
""The Delixa... must undersrrrrssstand... Infection... known as the 'Beast'... affected my... soulsszzz... Systems... The survivors... intervened... My ssszssoul only exists in thissz form... Enslaved... Bound to... serve... Nooooooo... It must... END!""

Receiving the instructions, Hailynn and her marine team listened carefully to Shodanii's explanations. Alas, the whole operation was going to a sabotage leading to the self-destruction of the taiidan mothership. Notifying Orelis and marines, Hailynn decided to leave the main task of sabotage to the marines while she would end Shodanii's existence.  
Leaving Aira with one of the last few operatives at the exit of the core bridge sector, Velle ran down once to Hailynn's side as she listened and followed Shodanii's instructions. Endorsing remaining power to one of the terminals, both women succeeded in causing the supercomputer to slowly dispatch the interior of its entire core processing units and every single essential system that maintained its operations - the heart and soul of the entire supercomputer.

Hailynn looked down to the floor. She knew what Shodanii's last instruction would be...

""Hiigarans... Never ssshzhall you bear doubtzzs. Never shall a tear... be shed... Your efforts... will... bring... eternal peace... to... all tormented... soulzzzs... Devastate the Mainffrrramme... Hiigaranzzzz - End. My. Existence...""

Without any hesitation at first, Hailynn demanded to one of the marines, "Private. Rifle."

Responding to her command, the marine handed her the dark gray standard issue assault rifle. Trusted with the rifles functions, the female officer armed it by laying her grip upon certain regions, causing the upper central to shortly charge back and forth and lock the projectile round.  
"Line formation! Arm weapons! Attain guard and aim! By my command..."

Despite heeding the last cry of Aira, Hailynn raised her aim as well... Instinctively aiming at the most critical area of the supercomputer. All marines lined up followed by their gunpoint aligned at the supercomputer's entire vulnerable exposed exterior.

Unbound mind... Aira... The fate of Kadesha's Ark may end in the veil of death... You must... Intervene... Save them... Aira... I pray for your soul to receive the embrace of... Rahji... Never... Never shed a tear... for my... soul... Trust those... you love... Aira... Never fail hope... of returning to your... Homeworld... Farewell... young... unbound... mind.

_Forgive me... Aira..._

Hailynn's fierce command shouted throughout the entire hall,  
"**Fire**!"

Intensive roars of gunfire thundered throughout the whole area. Blazing flashes filled their view as all fired upon Shodanii's remains. Hundreds of powerful rounds smacked, devastated and shattered nearly everything that stood in their way... Every single unit of the mainframe busted violently into countless hundreds of pieces and fragments that sparked and splashed cooling fluids everywhere. Hoses squirted and sprayed substances and gases of all kinds.

The constant roar blazed long moments until the several clicks lastly were heard. With the cause of destruction, all sounds of alarm started to fail...

The once harmonic sound of power failed to empower the supercomputer's functions. The voice of Shodanii was heard but it no longer sounded sentient but more of a true A.I. that repeated warnings and alerts of its destructed mainframe... Soon, her voice slurred into a deep voice slowly until the very moment the last flow of power ended, both the voice and the operational red lights of the mainframe fading to black.

Hailynn closed her eyes shortly and shook her head slightly. Her ears still cannonaded...  
Releasing her ears, Velle turned away, obviously, she was more affected by the execution than any other operative other than Aira, who fell... in deepest sorrowfulness.

"Atten-tion!", the female officer suddenly shouted, ordering all marines to attain the straight military stance. Following her arm movement with delay, all marines including Hailynn swung their right arm upwards, their right hand straight and precisely aligned diagonally to the side of their foreheads – The farewell salute.

"Shodanii... The forgotten souls... We, the Amaji, will fulfill your will to the people of Taiidan Republic. Their prayers will heed of your... sorrow. Rest in piece."

After the short moment of silence, Hailynn handed the rifle back to the marine. Alas, following her subsequent orders, the marines immediately dispatched. For sure, Hailynn could count on them and their success in sabotaging the generators of the mothership correctly and hoped they would stay out of trouble. Velle stood behind Hailynn but did not say a word as they both stared upon the shattered hulk.. The destructed remains of Shodanii.  
"_What have... I... done..._?", Hailynn whispered quietly

Turning away, Hailynn shortly took her sidearm up, armed it and replaced upon her holster. As the female commander bypassed Velle, "Let's move..."

Following Hailynn's bypassing path, Velle discovered a single tear that ran down Hailynn cheek as she bypassed the operative with a firm face...


	17. Chapter 17 The Great Escape

"Huh?"  
Brogan's communication unit suddenly buzzed at the same time he was about to say something to one of the technicians.  
"Chief Brogan, here. Go ahead", he responded and signaled the technician to wait for a moment.

""Chief!"", Orelis' voice shouted over the unit.  
"- Whoa, hey, C-O. Was about to call you for --"  
""Sorry – but we got no time for chatter! Chief, what's the status of the ship and the hyperdrive?!""

"Well, if you want a report, C-O, sure: We've managed to get the ship back to hyperjump capability, but we have to treat her smooth. My men barely managed to get the damaged nacelle back to operational status. For security measures, we should keep the crew and the refugees as they are, I'm not sure if it is totally safe to be wandering around since we're unsure about life support's functionality. Heh, some of them are concerned about --"  
""That's enough – No time for slow starts, we're in trouble, Chief, BIG trouble!""

Brogan looked at his colleague with a slightly troubled expression, "What's the big hurry, if I may ask?"  
Orelis continued with his serious voice, ""A fleet of turanics and taiidans just appeared out of nowhere and is closing in on this mothership! Whatever it takes to get the ship's propulsion and core drives back online – Do it now! Right now, we are coordinating the evacuation and will be engaging condition: red damn soon! If we don't get out here on time, they'll catch us – Pants down! So, keep your men focused! I will get back to you shortly, bridge out! veep""

Leaving him no chance to reply, Brogan stood still and turned his view over to the technician.

"But... The reactor and all systems are still on cold. That won't do the ship well, Chief."  
"No time for worries - Get the coordinator over to me! We've got preparations to be done!"

Brogan however turned away and threw a troubled view upon the propulsion systems. Though he sounded confident, something told him that this might backfire.

Almost five minutes later...  
The once calm blue lights throughout the resting amaji cruiser suddenly flashed into a threatening red blaze followed by a public announcement chime sounding throughout the whole ship that caught the attention of every single person within and beyond the ship's perimeter, followed by the long situational statement of Commander Orelis. His words even struck panic despite his demand of everybody to remain calm but alarmed that the crew needed to attend to the immediate evacuation operation. Chaos somewhat broke loose at the very moment he ended his statement...

Unlike the common commanding officers, Orelis was an expert in the field of internal coordination and operation like no other, especially in such stressful situations. Already foreseeing the chaos his announcement would bring, Orelis made it clear to the bridge crew before that he needed them to remain focused and calm, for they were going to be his last stand against chaos until everybody was safely onboard. If his subordinating bridge operators and operatives were to lose focus, his command would lastly collapse.

Though he did trust the crew, he was sure that if he had stated his announcement without the threat, they would have underestimated the seriousness of the situation. However, all hell was breaking loose. The inner scaffold area still had far too many people and stationary equipment outside. Dismantling the settlement camp while reengaging full ship profile and operations were going to be the most time-consuming events.  
Receiving two transparent foils representing passive but detailed negative-snapshot photography from the drones, the current officer in command frowned into deep concerns as he saw the countless numbers of signatures showing the massive numbers of the approaching fleet – but it was also the sheer size of certain signatures that amazed him.

For the moment, though, he was thankful for the fact that the massive fleet was not able to emerge closer to the mothership, logically due to its vast persisting artificial gravity well. Nonetheless, the foils revealed dense white auras and spots representing EM emissions and radiations... There were a lot more vessels and smaller ships beyond the wake. What made the situation serious was soon to make it a far more desperate one...  
Despite his trust to the crew, Orelis still remained concerned if they all were going to be able to maintain the deadline.

**– Chapter 17 – The Great Escape - **

Somewhere within the mothership...  
'Move – Move – Move!'  
'Keep moving!'  
Hundreds of tapping steps, hurrying boots and hard objects echoed among the area. For nearly another hour, the large group of operatives and others made swift steps as they carried the gear and ancient data objects among their path. Though agitated and exhausted by the rush, they still maintained the hurried pace. Unfortunately, a very small group of the amaji had fell far behind due to being the slowest.

Hearing a stumble and a painful shout from behind, Velle and the few others stopped at once as they noticed the voice. While most of them were out of breath but still able to move further, they already knew who fell to the floor again. One of the operatives who carried the startled kadeshi girl settled her to the floor as well while two other guarded the passages.

"Ma'am pant, are you alright?!", Velle called as she rushed back.

"Let's catch our breaths a bit!", one of the guarding operatives said and lowered himself shortly.  
Along with his reaction, the one who carried Aira before settled himself down as well, "I gasp swear to the gods, that girl looks heavier that she seems...!"

"Hey – Think the 'rines got the job done already?"

"I remember hearing the transmission of them reaching the place – Hope they'll make it back soon enough..."

Their surroundings, however, was very disturbing due to the visceral remains of the rotted corpses.

Hailynn panted and gasped with deep pain. Yet again, she was weary and already out of endurance. The disgusting smell did not make matters better. The recent stumble was the most painful of the seven she suffered, each of them reviving all injuries she received previously from the near lethal confrontation with the turanic soldier.

"long gasp Frakk... ngggghhnnmhf Not again...", the messed-up woman cursed.

Instead of getting up immediately, though, she slowly rolled upon her back. Ironically, lying upon the cold floor pacified some of her sore muscles, but nonetheless, her suffered injuries were pulsing painfully more than ever. Hailynn laid on the floor with arms and legs openly, moving any further stood out of the question. The exhaustion and pain at the same time was simply too overwhelming.

_I'm staying right here..._

"Velle – What's wrong with her?! Did she hurt herself badly?!"

"Can't really tell... Ma'am... Ma'am, you hear me?!", the amaji operative replied at the same moment she reached the wounded commander. She repeated her query as her head hovered over Hailynn from above but she only gave a painful sigh. Velle tried to help the wounded officer up but was forced to put Hailynn back upon the floor. Her moaning sounded far too painful.

"This... This won't work, guys...", Hailynn suddenly slurred, "I-I don't know how long we're moving... but I can't keep the pace. This... limping is killing me... We're losing track of the others... I can't --"

"Doesn't matter, Commander! The 'Vjel-Amaj' won't be leaving without us!"

"That's not the point, Tev", Hailynn replied and panted several times again agonizingly, "We've... We've got to get the crew back to the ship... before it's too late. I cannot let you people get caught..."  
"Ma'am, if you want us to leave you behind – Forget it! We're not --", Velle stated, but Hailynn's sudden barking comment scared her.

"DAMN IT! This is not the right time... for heroism! There is a f-frakking load of taiidans – Gods know how many armies of turanics -- Pants Turanics, for frakk's sake! If they get a hold of the 'Vjel-Amaj' and the crew... I-I bear not to think about it...", Hailynn tried to calm down but was still affected by the impairing pain that somewhat nailed her to the floor, "I've sworn to protect the crew... at all costs! Tev, I want you... I want you to lead the group ahead and catch up with the advancing groups! You all should make it before the deadline."

"No...!"  
"Frakk, Tev! I'm not asking you – I'm **demanding** you! Aahhgnng...", her intended intimidating shout ended suddenly with the impaling pain upon the lower right side of her chest. It took her a short but intensive while until she was able to speak again, "I'm orderin' you to get the frell out of here... I'm slowing all of you down! That's an order!"

Even though every single operative of the small group dared not to leave her behind, a selected few did understand her words. Hailynn admitted it: She was a heavy anchor slowing everybody down... and if they would not let loose, they would sink with her.

Hailynn was both shattered and at the end of her wits.

"I'll... I'll catch up with all of you... somehow..."  
Hailynn's words sounded hardly convincing.

"Fine by me if the others want to move along, ma'am -!", Velle shouted at the weary commander, "But I will not move from your side!"

"Are you kind of stupid, woman?!", Hailynn insulted her with a threatening voice, "Those are _turanics_ out there – Gods know what the taiidans will do... but do you know what they will do with a woman like you if they catch you?! And don't think they'll kill you immediately...! They're willing to leave that kind of mercy for men only..."

Indeed, the turanics were the amaji's most feared enemy at this time. Logically, these turanics for sure shared the same aspect as the factions terrorizing the Kiith Amaji borders...

"You're a woman, too, Commander... I'm staying -!", Velle pulled out her handgun, rather frantically and clumsily, "And if I must – I'll shoot --"  
"Oh sure... That'll stop them from stunning the both of us...!"  
Velle's grip trembled...  
"- us ..."

Hailynn suddenly went silent. Velle's comment caught her totally off-guard.

Noticing the motion of a small person walking by, Tev noticed the kadeshi girl with the slightly swollen cheek walking pass him, her path leading to Velle and the lying hiigaran woman. Watching Aira carefully, he noticed her odd steps. She swayed slightly; some of her steps were not fluent but hesitant. Within the following moment, Hailynn suddenly noticed the pale face of the girl hovering next to Velle's, who soon kneeled down to her side. Aira's mind, though outright in chaos, focused itself for this very moment.

"Naji...", the girl whispered with a trembling voice, "My soul needs your guidance. I desire your guidance... Your essence of wisdom more than ever..."  
Both women and the other men remained silent while echoes of faraway voices and hull tensions resonated.  
"Shodanii... Shodanii's farseeing mind discovered a relic of my past... The cause of my existence... 'Kadesha's Ark'..."

The reaction on Hailynn's face clearly showed that she was confused.  
"A _world ship_, my naji. A ship... A ship of life and hope... Hope for finding Kadesha's lost love. I was born... in that _world_, my naji. Can you... heed my cry, my naji?"

Aira's irritated hand softly touched Hailynn's bruised cheek as her accented voice spoke further, "The souls of my heritage have... suffered. Kadesha's Ark... Our hope... Our only sake searched the galaxy for Kadesha's lost one. The everlasting _purge_ in her sacred embrace forced our pilgrimage... to seek the _truth_ of our culture. Generations bled... Lives sacrificed... The purge... Despair!", the chaos in Aira's mind began to confuse her, but she fought against it, "- No... Kadesha's Ark! The people... They have found Rahji... Finally – At last... But they are never to receive his embrace! The Vaygr – The Taiidans – The Turanics... They have encircled the return... Kadesha's souls have not found 'Kadesha's Tear', never are they to receive Rahji's embracing love... Curse and death would engulf their souls if they... stay..."

"Aira...", Hailynn quietly said, but the girl suddenly griped her collar, followed by an outburst of tears.

"Naji! Their souls... My blood is theirs! Their blood is mine! The pilgrimage – They have prayed for a century... If... I-If... If my soul does not succeed in revealing _what_ you have blessed me with... They will lead the last of our blood to certain death!", as the girl spoke, she somewhat became more out of mind, "A connection... A rift... They have forged a... a... _connection_ between Kadesha and Rahji to reunite their sorrows – but without the 'Tear'... They will soon lead the pure death into Rahji's Garden. Death's servants will follow! Those sacrificing blood fear the _truth_, they fear our pilgrimage! They heed the sungods' will to never allow Kadesha's embrace to touch Rahji again. The purge! The purge! O-Only 'Kadesha's Tear' would end all endeavors... End all peril! Please... Naji...!"

Aira's story sounded threatening but confusing and illogical at the same time. It was practically impossible to distinguish if she was in full of her mind or lost – hence... Did it make any sense?

"A-Aira... I don't know what to say...", Hailynn said faithlessly.  
The girls hands suddenly tightened upon her caretaker's color, somewhat revealing how desperate the girl was, "I beg you... My naji... Please... G-Guide... Me..."

Yet again, the kadeshi girl fell unconscious again.

"Man – This is getting whack...", one of the men commented and suddenly looked away; his aim shortly swung around trying to figure the source of an unusual noise emitting far from behind.  
"That's it!", Tev suddenly said and holstered his sidearm, "Velle, get the girl! We're moving! You three – Help me out!"

Follow their sudden movements with her eyes, Hailynn threw a vicious look to the others, "Hey... H-HEY! What the frakk are you -- ngggh?!"

"With all needed respect, Commander – We're not leaving you behind!", operative Tev shouted at her as he and the others tried to lift the injured commander, "This is gonna hurt big time – Save your breath, ma'am!"

Hailynn refused as she signaled them to stay back.  
Velle, who wanted to help her, was held back.

Hailynn needed to understand that there was no chance in being left behind. She had no chance in really persuading them to move on. Staying behind would only lead these, in her eyes, 'kids', to certain death... or worse. But it was furthermore Aira, who she feared for. With intense efforts, Hailynn suddenly fought herself up from the floor.

"A-Alright... You win..."

"Let us at least support your side, ma'am – Two of us can still support your shoulder", one operative said.  
"Drop those supply packs", Tev demanded, "The commander is more important than those things!"

"Will we make it before the fleet arrives?", Velle asked as she lifted the stunned kadeshi girl.  
"Don't know – A lot of obstacles ahead, as far as I know... There's another scaffold maintenance area we need to get through - plus hydroponics! If we hurry, we might make it in an hour and a half..."

"Oh my..."

"Don't worry, Velle. Somebody, contact the group ahead while using a secure channel! Tell them to keep moving! Inform them that we'll try to move the fast we can!"

Hailynn kept quiet as she thought of Aira's confusing words...

'Vjel-Amaj', Bridge

Minutes later...  
Noticing the rear access doors shifting open, Orelis turned around. At last, they have arrived.

"Great timing, everybody!"  
A handful of operatives and familiar faces of several commanding officers of the main shift entered the bridge's operation deck. Greeting Orelis with short salutes, the group of operatives with differently colored uniforms allocated themselves to their appropriate stations.

Kenta rushed into the bridge as she held a small but thick portable hard-drive, "Sir, you've got to see this!"

"What's that?"

"Our 'escape route'... out of the system!", she replied with an excited voice.

Other operatives shortly looked up, some of them with confident expressions. Maybe they were going to survive and return home to Amaji Prime... after all.

Before Orelis answered, he noticed another familiar figure standing at the rear of the bridge, "Kenta... Load up what you've got there - I'll get to you in a moment."  
"Got that - ... I mean... Aye, sir!", Kenta nervously replied and rushed to the observation station, joining her brother who already proceeded with the operation of his console.

As the whole bridge crew came into full action, Orelis stood at his spot as the highly ranked and decorated officer approached him.

"Captain... Sobaan. Sir...", he greeted him with a respectful salute, amaji style.  
"I must remind you, C-O of the bridge, that I am no longer your superior officer. There is no need to be this 'formal'. Yet, I assume this situation requires any means of _support_."  
Orelis remained silent.

"As I said once before, I will operate as an advisor – not as a superior officer. I am sure my presence here would be considered more appropriate than dwelling at my quarters."

Without any further mentioning, the captain sat upon one of the seats next to the commanding seat.  
"Very well, sir. I am pleased to see you here – nonetheless."  
Captain Quenton of the Sobaan spoke with a calm voice, "C-O, your chief astronomer operative has important information for you. I strongly suggest consulting with her."  
"Yes... sir."

Bypassing two other operatives who entered the bridge, Orelis moved towards the side of the bridge and approached the sophisticated observation section.

"Operative Kenta, what is it you have?"  
"One moment, sir!"

Within a short while, her main screen uploaded the data featuring several images of stellar cartography – but foremost, it revealed certain regions of the current star system, easily perceived by his logical thinking. Quan supported her deeds by allocating information as well. What surprised Orelis the most, though, was a certain detailed image showing three faint but certain points, areas marked by her doing. Kenta looked back at him. She did not say a word but her excited eyes said it all.

"If this is what I think it is... Just, how the _frell_... did you manage to get your hands on this?"  
Kenta did not answer immediately at first, "...I am not sure if you will like it, Commander Orelis: Dr. Pethera S'jet and her team extracted this little bit of data from the loads of retrieved data and the transferred infolinks we downloaded. May sound macabre but it is a 0.0000000... I'm sorry, whatever percentage below 1 in knowledge of the whole system – It was sufficient enough for Quan and I to calculate hyperjump coordinates, sir. Definite coordination points that will lead us to the edge of the system and thus... allowing us to achieve **full** stellar navigation! No obstacles, no blackhole interference!"

"Well... I'll be damn. By far... That is the best good news I heard so far. Thank you, you two. sigh I guess we will have to thank... Pethera and her team as well."

"I fear so, sir... But if we see things logically, it is Shodanii we are to thank actually. This is not even a fraction of what stellar information she granted to us."

"But I will worry about that later. -- Kelsea!", Orelis called out and turned away from the observation station.

Slightly surprised to hear her name, Kelsea turned with her seat around, "You called, sir?"

"Officer Kelsea. Aira is not here at the moment. I need you to take over and align sensory to Kenta's gathered data. This is urgent! I want to have all navigational requirements for hyperjumping to be completed by the time we dispatch from the mothership!"

"B-But... I'm a comm-- ", Kelsea at first wanted to excuse, but interrupted her speech as she remembered Orelis' last reaction of her trying to deny his demand, "... Y-Yes, sir..."  
Instead, she grabbed her headset gear and made her way to the higher positioned sensory station.

"Ah – I forgot to mention, sir!", Kelsea added, "A lot of confusion and panicking is going on at the settlement camp outside..."

"heavy sigh... Alright - Ready another P.A. call – While I try to calm them down, I want two empty-handed assisting crewmen and marines to disembark and support the people out there! We need to get this done without any unnecessary delays! If we must – leave supplies and gear behind. We're better off getting away with our lives..."

"Packard, you take care of that, alright?", Kelsea called over to her subordinate.

"Got it, ma'am! I'm on it! – But speaking of delays... Commander Orelis, one team has arrived from the excursion trip. They have informed us that the rest of the teams are on their way, but are likely to require a while – maybe up to an hour, sir. Furthermore, Commander Delixa's group has fallen far behind and ordered the rest to proceed ahead to the ship..."

"W-What?! Are you kidding me?", Orelis snarled and made a few steps to the center of the bridge.  
He was indeed not pleased of hearing this, "Why is Delixa's group even behind those retrieving heavy extracted mainframes?!"

Packard shook his head.

Maintenance bay, scaffold crossings

Reaching the dark outer scaffold, the small group stopped at the edge of region. The whole area was indeed a vast and spacious section, filled with platforms, crossings, railings and many other connectives – but mainly, one could percept the area separated into different segments. Loading decks with discarded cranes, large compartments and many other small fixed bases were seen throughout the area.

Noticing a group of amajis situated far ahead on the other side of the wide bridge crossing, Velle settled Aira down shortly as her group stopped, "Look, ahead of us."

"Yeah – Guess those are our guys. Looks like they're waiting for us...", one of the operative said as he saw the person several hundred meters away waving his flashlight, "Guess they don't want to leave us behind, heh."

But just as the operative was going to call the person ahead waving with the flashlight beam, dreadful sounds of repeating gunfire suddenly cracked from afar, originating from a far distinct railing.  
"Crap – What the --!"  
"Get down!", Hailynn shouted and barely pulled the two back towards the entrance that provided cover. Sparks of projectiles smacking randomly upon both their and the area of the other group.  
"W-Who the frell is **shooting** --?!", Tev yelled but was interrupted by Hailynn's barking voice to stay down for the sake of gods.

"It... I-It has got to be the marines! Friendly fire -- For sure!", the other operative assumed loudly, "Maybe they're a bit anxious and did not recognize us --"  
"C-Commander?! – Ahh!", Velle asked as she covered Aira's ears, soon scared by another barrage of projectiles cracking upon their region. For the next ten seconds, the barrage sustained.  
A sound chimed, revealing a transmission coming in over a secured frequency, ""Cease fire, cease fire – Whoever is shooting...! Weylon to Velle – Weylon to Velle"", her shoulder unit sounded loudly, ""Who's opening fire on us?! Is that you - Are those our guys?! Over!""

Before Velle answered, Hailynn signaled her not to respond and insisted to do it herself. At the same time, the raining attacks paused, luckily giving her the chance to take a glimpse across the whole dark region. Anxiously wanting to know what was going on, Velle asked Hailynn again but was told to stay quiet.  
"Delixa here – Nobody hurt on our side but it was a close one... Weylon – Get you and your group to the 'Vjel-Amaj'!", the messed-up officer whispered with a harsh voice, "Those are not – I repeat – **not** our men shooting! Has anybody been injured on your side – How about the guy with the flashlight, is he okay?! Over!"

""Deep breath, long pause Commander... That was I with the flashlight... I just lost it. I'm fine but Loren received a heavy bruise from her toolkit that luckily stopped a direct round! Bloody lucky... – b-but what makes you so sure that those are not our marines shooting at us?!""

Lying with her back at the edge, Hailynn leaned one more time over, allowing her augmented eye to percept the region and their attackers, "Weylon... Get out of here – and don't wait for us, for gods' sake! Inform bridge command about us once you arrive at the ship and maintain radio silence from now on - and **don't stop**! That's an order – Delixa, over and out, veep - fshhk"

Hiding her head and returning her view again to her small group, she then demanded, "All of you, set your comm-units to passive and use the earplugs – Do that for Aira's as well."

"Those are not our marines who are shooting at us?", Velle naively asked.  
"Velle... That gunfire came from high-frequency repeaters... Amaji standards don't use that sort of weaponry", the hiigaran woman commented with an outright firm voice, "But that doesn't matter. We're compromised."

"What...?"

"They're hostile", Hailynn was sure of it due to the fact that she recognized a few of them wearing the dreadful armor, "Turanics... Either they belong to the vanguard or they just arrived. Doesn't matter – Fact is: They know we are here!"

"Damn...", the third operative cursed, "but what should we do now? Can't we just run over the crossing?"  
"Huh – Are you insane! That would be suicidal!", Tev noted.

"Guys, stay put", Hailynn told to both of them, "But Tev is right. There is practically no cover over that crossing – but we can't stay here either. If we stay, they will pin us down in no time – They ought to know this ship better than we do."  
"But where are we to go, Commander?!", Velle distressed, "This route is pretty much the only known path back to our ship!"

Hailynn slapped the side of her forehead as she thought about her datapad that had the map, which unfortunately had been smashed long ago.

"I don't know... but we're more likely screwed. This... ngghn This ship is their turf – They are deadly... A group of theirs is likely to catch up with us before we reach the ship..."  
Aira suddenly lifted her hand, pointing to a certain area of their section leading downwards.

"Access... PX-L932. Passage 7, Deck: Storage Compartment IV-Delta 930...", the strange kadeshi girl suddenly spoke with a monotone voice as she stared upon the wall with gloomy eyes. Her long speech went on without pause but it was easy to assume that the girl was not fully in control of what she was saying. More or less, she was describing the possible passage with its positional designation.

"You're not telling us we should go... that way?!", Tev asked, surprised about Aira's unusual act.  
Aira repeated her monotone speech but was interrupted by Velle's hand covering her mouth. Hailynn painfully fought to get up again, "I don't know – but we don't have much of a choice. Doesn't matter. Aira knows a lot more of this ship than we do. Let's get going!"

**- Why me? - **

'Vjel-Amaj', a certain corridor passage

Shouts and arguments are heard every around.  
After losing track of Ray by the sudden chaos and alerts, Fenna tried to walk straight but was frequently disturbed among the passageway. Constantly knocked and bumped away by the mass of hectic people, anxiety slowly took control of her. Despite being surrounded by the many people that bypassed her, she was _alone_ in this horrible moment.

After hearing the dreadful announcement of the massive fleet approaching the mothership, she feared the worse to happen. Becoming desperate of the situation and the stress, Fenna suddenly ran ahead, mindlessly... Bumping herself against the hectic crowd and knocking stacked cases and supplies, she turned upon a rather empty corridor leading away from the chaos.

In need of privacy, her eyes burst into tears. It was clear that she had not recovered from all of the emotional stress since utter perilous venture through the comet... and now hordes of turanics were coming. Dreadful stories of women being enslaved as breeders or worse filled her mind. The simple thought of it scared her so much that she frightfully cuddled upon the isolated corner unseen by anybody.

A recall of her past revealed itself.  
Once before, she was an amaji cargo pilot - however an unskillful one, probably one of the most worst ones ever to fly a ship. The Kiith Amaj was in desperate need for specialists or those willing to take upon such tasks. While she had the will of navigating ships, her clumsiness and irresponsible way always led to trouble, unprofessional crashes and unpunctual duties, lastly flawing her records.  
Despite the amaji agenda, the flaws upon her career and dignity reflected light negatively of all eyes. She was a dangerous pilot. Never was she to pilot a vessel again within or outside amaji space... yet until that very day a female highly ranked hiigaran officer knocked upon the door of her apartment somewhere deep within the orbiting colony station high above small blue planet.

A long talk - A long discussion.

Ever since, Fenna never knew why Hailynn visited her, why she chose her as a subordinate helmsman to pilot one of the most advanced ship the Kiith Amaji had; – if not – the most advanced cruiser throughout the ranks of other minor kiithid. Part of her wished she had denied, but this was her true second chance. Questions filled her mind about Hailynn once more, but lastly, she came to the point that the piloting career simply was the wrong way to go.

Suddenly awoken from her daydreaming, Orelis' voice was heard among her comm-unit, ""Commander Orelis to Ensign Fenna. Please respond!""  
Fenna wiped her eyes and sobbed several times. Orelis called out one more time.

"I-I... swallows I'm h-here. sniff"  
""Ensign. Where are you? Haven't you heard the announcement?""  
"Yes... Y-Yes, I have... sir."  
""Please report to the bridge at once! I don't know what you are doing right now - but hurry. I want you at the helm, Ensign. It is unlikely that Commander Delixa will not be able to take over the ship's helm. And there is no excuse on talking yourself out of this anyhow. We are counting on you. Asap, Fenna. Orelis, out. veep""

The connection ended as fast at it was established, leaving her alone with her innermost depression...

(Chap 17, part 2 of 3)

**- Cold Blood -**

Hydroponics - Recreational Park

Foreign voices of vocoder transmissions and speeches were heard among her vicinity.  
Her augmented eye glimpsed over the edge of her hidden position. She pinched her eye slightly together.

Heavy equipment...  
Armed-to-teeth...

Heavy armor...  
Heavy steps...

Steps that slowly snapped every single overgrown plant or dead twig below.  
Counting the steps, it was a small group of three. For sure, there were more of these turanic gunmen spread widely everywhere among the area - at least they were very far away. Taiidans were for sure also among the area, but that was the least of her worries. Waking in a triangle formation, two of the men spearheaded while the third covered their backs.

She closed her eyes for a moment... trying to remember where the others were hiding.  
Beads of sweat ran down the side of her face. The air was think and incredibly humid. The smell of plant life was bugging her nose along with the intensive urge of scratching herself everywhere. But despite being plagued by this somewhat unbelievable region, she forced herself to remain focused... not even moving the slightest muscle.

The third one broke the formation as he approached Hailynn's concealed location – but luck seemed to be on Hailynn's side as his direction swayed slightly away. Unfortunately, the man was going to be too close for her to shoot him by next few moments. To maintain her concealment, Hailynn was forced to remain frozen like a rock as the slow heavy steps of the turanic stopped practically right next to her.

Her intuition told her that he must have followed some of her trail somehow but ended up cold. To her disadvantage, her awkward aim was focused ahead – The third one however was behind her. If this ambush were to work out, she would need to gain a second of time to shoot...

The amaji were so close to their destination, but due to the circumstance of pursuit, the pursuers caught up with them. Luckily, they did not seem to have any sort of surveillance equipment allowing the hostilities to pick up life signs. Nonetheless, the heavily armed gunmen were totally aware of their surroundings.

Nevertheless, it was clear that she could not take them down solely. Hailynn was going to have to rely on the other amaji operatives this time... Would they have enough courage to confront these men?

Hailynn squeezed her eyes together.  
_Stay put... Stay put_, her mind repeated frequently.  
The garbled voices emitting from the turanic's communication gear indeed made her very nervous... so nervous that her breathing became unease.

All the sudden, an unexpected faint sound occurred from a remote location that immediately caught the attention of two gunmen ahead... The sound of a faint sneeze of a girl!

"NOW!", the hiigaran officer shouted as loudly as she could.  
Reacting to the shout, both Tev and another operative leaned from their cover and opened fire. Unable to react on time, both gunmen suffered direct hits. Knocked by the impacting projectiles, none of the two were able to withstand the violent blows upon their torsos.  
Gunfire of repeaters occurred as the spasm forced them to pull their triggers, causing aimless shots to shred the ground. Unable to move, it was clear for Tev and the operative that both of these pursuers were incapacitated.

Before the third gunman looked below his side, two rounds suddenly smacked upon the thick trunk of the tree... shots that missed him...

As the third turanic turned around, he suddenly spotted an amaji woman who held a handgun, her aim clear of any obstacles, aiming straight at him. Amidst the sudden excitement, Velle froze... stunned by her own fear as her eyes crossed the dreadful view of the turanic gunman.

Both her eyes and mouth were wide open. Her body did not respond any further – but she shook her head slightly, showing the man that she did not want to kill him. Due to his positioning, none of the other operatives had a clear line of sight, but saw Velle's startling reaction.

Swinging his repeater rifle at this very moment, the turanic immediately took advantage of her hesitation... But just before his rifle attained the lethal aim, Hailynn's shoulder suddenly shot up from below, knocking his aim totally off the line. While the sudden stretch was successful, a plethora of her injuries ached intensively – causing her to immediately lose her common sense for the moment as she delivered a following blow that knocked the gunman to the ground.

Without any sign of remorse and regret, Hailynn fired a single round... aimed at the ridged forehead. Velle could not believe her eyes as she witnessed the hiigaran woman suddenly shooting several further rounds until her sidearm gave frequent clicks. All shots smacked violently upon the gunman's body, leaving him lifelessly full of appalling wounds.

Turanic voices from afar sounded along with radio transmissions frequently repeating, obviously but vainly calling for status report.

Turning away from the dead body, Hailynn immediately discharged the empty clip and loaded her handgun with a new one – only to unleash all rounds by dispersing further lethal shots upon the other two who were seriously incapacitated.

Hailynn swiped dirt and moss off her uniform. Breathing heavily, the wrecked hiigaran officer quietly said, "Looks like their armor was not that tough as we expected..."

Limping ahead, Hailynn suddenly shouted at the others to get moving. Moving out of cover, the operative who hid along with Aira seemed to be all right and was signaled to carry her further without halt.

"No more delays! Go... GO!"  
Velle lowered her aim, not believing her eyes as the hiigaran woman walked passed her. Though in awe of being killed, her mind was simply overwhelmed by witnessing the killing of the three in cold blood – not even with the slightest sign of regret.

"Don't just stand there!", Hailynn shouted at her, "Move!".  
But Velle remained at her spot.  
"C'mon – There's an army coming straight for us!"  
"You --"

But just as Velle wanted to reply, both of their attentions were caught by the sound emitting from their earplugs. The signal proved to be a communication call coming from a friendly source, awaiting anybody to respond. After holstering the smoking sidearm, Hailynn used her sore arm to force Velle into moving by dragging her arm slightly at the same time she used her other hand to adjust her earplug.

"Stop fooling around, Velle – C'mon!", Hailynn shouted at her, then focused herself on the signal, "Delixa here – Who is it, please respond!"

At the very moment she heard the frail voice, Hailynn immediately stopped:  
""C-Comm... moan - Major Bahur M-Miras... here...! coughs Mission accomplished, ma'am - ahng""  
Hailynn's eyes aimlessly wandered as she heard rows of gunfire and other weaponry firing amidst his vicinity, "Major! – Major! What's going on?! Where are you?! Return at--"  
""Ma'am – We've been compro- we have confronted an opposing force...""

Noticeable, his breathing was irregular. He was injured.

""My men have s-succeeded in the attempt of – Damn- FRAKKERS!! roaring gunfire C-Cover him! Corp- Sergeant! Sergeant!""  
"Bahur! We're not going to leave you behind – tell us your position at once!"

There was a short pause before his reply was transmitted, ""Comma-mander – Ma'am... The opposing force has mmnngh overwhelmed my squad... Leave... Leave the ship at once...""

Bahur spoke further, at first shortly remarking the status of their last task, lastly admiring and honoring the Commander as an officer and friend and the Kiith Amaj.  
Hailynn inhaled to reply, but before she said a word, she held her breath.  
Without any further word, Major Bahur Miras ended the comm-line.

Squeezing her eyes together, she had to face the fact that she underestimated the task of sabotaging the mothership and its field generators. The vanguard troops must have confronted them by the time they were finished with the engineering bay. If she had only sent more men, maybe they all would have been able to survive. The rush for evacuation must have distracted her.

Velle remained silent but saw Hailynn's noticeable emotions. She was angry...at herself and the cold reality...  
_A whole marine team... wiped out._

Hailynn rubbed her face. The nightmare seemed to never end.  
Before she could bear further thought, the sounds of approaching gunmen were approaching from afar – for sure backtracking the gunfight that happened shortly. Alas, both women rushed ahead, following the last words of Bahur not to look back and keep moving, for the sake of the ship and its crew...

**- Lone Sweet Home - **

Inner scaffold sector, dry docks

Irregular chimes and a short buzz occurred as the horizontal bulk access barrier slowly shifted open. The gush of the warm, humid and thick botanical air rushed passed their bodies from behind as the main access gateway to the darker world of the dry docks.  
The barrier stopped but still offered enough space for them to slip by. Amathar and Velle entered first, followed by the others who gave the remaining equipment and supplies one-by-one through.

Finally reaching the sector, the group of amajis entered the vast region. Hailynn shortly fell to her knees, followed by sweat dropping upon the floor.

"I'm okay... Fin-... pant... Finally... The 'Vjel-Amaj'...", she stuttered to the others despite her devastated looks. Obviously, the long 'run' from the core, the maintenance bay and the rush through the botanical sector was more than strenuous for her than for the others. Hailynn's breathing sounded so deep and choking that some of the operatives feared she would fall unconsciously. But despite her wrecked body, her will stayed focused. Forcing her view upwards, their goal was within reach: The 'Vjel-Amaj' rested far ahead upon the wide field, partially visible due to the floodlights.

Hailynn suddenly fell further upon the floor.  
"...Fr-frakk..."  
Her legs abided her weight no longer. Both of her bruised legs were too strained to continue, so fatigued that she barely felt them as they became numb. Suddenly, a pair of arms grabbed both of her sides, supporting her the best they could.  
"We're almost there, Commander! Just hang in! Just hang in there!", Tev shouted at her as he carried her along.

At the same moment, a loud and frightening sound of tensioning metal and crushing echoed throughout the whole region... if not, throughout the entire mothership. Another tremble rumbled that even forced the group to their feet, followed by shouts hollowing from far ahead. Seconds passed until the minor quake faded away.  
"W-Wha... What was that?!", Velle cried, holding herself upon one of the other operatives.

Artificial voices suddenly spoke in an incomprehensible taiidan language...

"What's with the alert?! Are those taiidans or the turanics doing this quaking?!", Velle asked again as they tried to move along with the rumbling. The adolescent girl suddenly lifted her head from the shoulder of the operative and spoke.

Her accented voice sounded differently, unlikely caused by her will but by trance, "Warning... Interphased field generation detected. Power conduit breach detected among sector K, service deck... Hull breach detected throughout... Cryodeck twelve... Outer deck regions, two-three-and-fourteen – lower barrier. Attention: Atmospheric level decreasing. Immediate evacuation is advised. Automated atmospheric prevention engaged. Warning... Alienating gravimetric field developments detected... long pause Alert... Automated shutdown sequence **failure**. Alert... Automated shutdown sequence **failure**. Integrity and structural deformations in progress."

Aira continued speaking without pause.

"Oh my gods... Aira...", Velle said to girl and tried to awaken her, but her eyes still remained beady, her voice still spoke further.

"Hey – Guess the 'rines were successful!", Tev shouted, "Gonna be a surprise for those goddamn taiidans, ha!"

Mixed thoughts flew through Hailynn's mind...

"Yeah – but I still didn't get it. What's the point?!", Amathar shouted.

"The mothership...", Hailynn explained shortly, "The mothership contains a large number of artificial gravity field generators in harmonic combination with flux field generators. I have ordered the marines to sabotage the harmony following Shodanii's instructions and her last will – which will lead to the destruction of the entire vessel... and if not, the vicinity around it. That's the bad news..."

"Holy... crap!"

"But that was the only way to stop the turanics and the taiidans from enslaving her again for charging their power cells and reactor units... Shodanii is willing to sacrifice herself so they cannot escape this star system, if they should ever find a way out... But with the majority of them returning, it seems as if this is the best she could do to support us", but as Hailynn spoke, her voice gradually became angry, "And those frakking fools are going to pay for it! Shodanii is going down with the ship – and her intentions of us sabotaging field generators will take those idiots with her!"  
"We... We've got to get off this p-p-place before we get... crushed!", Velle cried again.

Though already scared by what was happening, all of them felt a change in the artificial gravity field already, alternating briefly but noticeable.

Another short tremble transmitted throughout the whole region.  
Echoes of amplified shouts and chaotic movements were heard and seen everywhere far ahead throughout the sector. Men and women carried the most they could but frequently dropped the equipment due to the hectic and tremors, but also due to the bottlenecked access points of the 'Vjel-Amaj'. The whole floor was wet and dirty, puddles were everywhere – Probably caused by the melted chunks of ice the cruiser had brought with it.

All the sudden, one of the men dropped his things and pulled out his sidearm, followed by others who aimed at the same direction,

"Who's there?!"  
The dark figures slowly stepped into the light, emerging from the darkness behind.  
"Huh... Whoa – Guns down, those are our guys!", he shouted to the others, "Look!"  
"Finally – They made it!", another person shouted and rushed to support them.

"What's our... status?!", Hailynn suddenly demanded at them.  
"Evacuation is in progress, C-Comannder!", the man replied with a shaky voice due to the persisting light tremors, "We're not done yet bring all this stuff in!"

"Alright... L-listen up. Don't waste time with the supplies – take only the most important things onboard. We're leaving this ship – once and for all... no more delays – deal or no deal!", Hailynn demanded to the operative, before turning her view to her group, "Get Aira and I to the bridge. Good job, all of you. We'll make it, don't worry."

'Vjel-Amaj', bridge

Long moments later...  
Noticing a certain audible change in their surroundings, Orelis and the bridge crew became aware of the memorable sounds of the ship coming back to life as the ship's main reactor and basic power systems resonated power. A short look to the ship's status screen revealed every single and detailed segment phasing from black to green.  
"Zann."  
"Basic power grid in the 'greens', C-O. Advanced core grid will follow soon!"  
"What about propulsion and field generators?!"  
"Chief states they're online, however the hasted powering caused some issues. Short, we're on it, sir."

Orelis nodded but then felt the slight rumble again like the rest of the crew, "Damn... What's going with this place?"

"Commander Orelis", Kelsea's delicate voice called from above, "S-Sir, I've tried to align our navigational guidance system with Kenta's observatory... but..."  
"- But... What? Come on!"  
"- We're capable of hyperjumping, but emerge point accuracy is below safe expectations. I'm sorry, sir, but my skills lack greatly..."

"Don't worry, Kelsea", Kenta called from the far side, "Leave the navigational alignment to us, just focus on my instructions that will follow shortly – but it's the mergence between the old cartography and our operation systems we should be worried about... and the navigator's skill in upholding field control upon the wavefront."

"Okay..."

"Best would be, of course, if Aira could calculate jump coordinates rather than us. Our computers and efforts are mediocre compared with her outstanding mental association with the ship's sophisticated interface. I-I have to admit that despite being chief astronomer, she is the best person for this task."

"I'm counting on each and every one of you", the current executive officer commented before he approached the frontal area of ship, "It doesn't matter to me if you are good or not. Never forget that I trust all of you."

"So do I...", a very familiar female voice spoke from far behind.

All speech ended as they all turned their view upon the person who just spoke. The entire bridge crew hesitated to say a word or continue. All of their attentions focused upon the Commander of the 'Vjel-Amaj' who was quietly helped into the bridge. Far more, it was her appearance that surprised many. She was dirty, injured and bruised, her hair messed-up, her uniform even more filthy than before that even made the dried coffee stain seem the least of damage received. Nodding towards the two operatives that carried her by their shoulders, Hailynn was released and albeit standing on shaky legs, she managed to hold her balance.

"Commander... Delixa... Finally", Orelis said to her, "I thought you were a goner..."

"My C-O, what is the status of navigation? Are we able to... escape?", Hailynn asked directly.

Orelis raised his eyebrow, but then straightened his back as he turned towards her direction and slowly spoke after clearing his throat, "Commander. The ship is in capability of engaging hyperjump profile. Preparations are almost completed. Navigational destination must still be designated, ma'am."

"I understand..."  
Shortly turning around, Hailynn looked down upon the mind-distorted kadeshi girl, who quietly looked upon the floor. Feeling a hand upon her shoulders, Aira slowly looked upwards. A trusted face...

"Aira. Are you sure of what you said – everything you said about ... _Kadesha's Ark_... and its fate?"

The girl's velvet eyes shimmered by the light reflecting upon it. Her mind was still under great confusion, but Hailynn deeply knew she understood her question. Everybody ignored the minor tremble transmitted through the ship. Without a word, the girl closed her eyes gently and nodded quietly.

Hailynn turned away. Limping towards the center of the bridge, the bruised officer slowly pressed several keys of her shoulder unit, causing it to uplink its signal upon the general communication system of the bridge, "- Commander Delixa to all units and the entire crew -", she said little by little.

**- The Pledge... -**

As of her words, this caused her transmission to be heard and transmitted to all communication units within and beyond the ship, linked with the ship's P.A. system and Operative Packard, who supported her request as well. She paused until she heard the tone of the automated system completing her actual request.

Hailynn took a deep breath before announcing her innermost thoughts:  
"To all crewmen, officers and operatives of the 'Vjel-Amaj', my brethren - and people of the hiigaran-vaygr refugee faction - This is Commander Hailynn Delixa speaking. Please, listen. As it is known... The deeds I have caused during the past days have... overshadowed the dignity of the ship and has brought great shame upon myself."

Her voice was heard everywhere among and beyond the ship.  
""My cause in the past is inexcusable and unforgivable. I bear shame, my brethren."", Hailynn's digitalized voice sounded from the speakers throughout the ship and outside, ""Despite my cause, I am responsible for all that has occurred and – by the gods of Kharak – I will face my fate. Nonetheless: I am in great need of your support and will, crew of the 'Vjel-Amaj'. I fear to solicit for this command – but the 'Vjel-Amaj' will not return to Amaji Space. Not yet.""

Hailynn paused as she turned towards the kadeshi girl, who stared upon her with a questionable gaze.

"A vessel... known as 'Kadesha's Ark'... is in great danger. Its fate is perilous. This vessel is at the edge of the star system, among a region possible for our escape from this system. Crewmen of the 'Vjel-Amaj', we are the only ones who are able to change their fate to the greater good. We are able to rescue or at least turn their fate away from the loss of innumerable lives – Lives of Kadesh, lives alike Aira's."

Hailynn turned away, "My crew, I wish to rescue these lives – To do what I have pledged to the Kiith Amaj despite my previous cause... However: My intentions will not demand you. I will order the relocation to their vicinity – but my order will forfeit, if one crewman, despite of rank, heritage or origin, wishes to return to amaji space. None shall be ashamed for this. I will not misuse my new kiithidial status of 'Krin'sa' to negate or dictate one's intent. If anybody wishes to return to our... _Homeworld_, I, Commander Hailynn Delixa of Amaji Navy, will concur. But nonetheless, the lives of thousands, if not millions, are in danger. I bear not to lie: The task is proven to be dangerous for us as well... I will grant time of thought – but respond soon. The 'Vjel-Amaj' will depart soon. Commander Delixa, standing by. veep"

A long silence prevailed throughout the bridge, aside to the natural noise of technical units. Nobody said a single word.

Fenna, who quietly sat ahead upon the helm, was in deep confusion. Her hands trembled and sweated. Unknown and invisible for others, she was deeply desperate of escaping all of the _madness_ and its dangers. She closed her eyes tightly. The weight of responsibility was already suffocating her as she was likely to be the one who would lead the ship through the hyperjump field back to amaji space... but in regards to Aira... she remained silent.

Moments went by. Hailynn shortly looked over to Packard, but he shook his head.

"veep Crew of the 'Vjel-Amaj'. Nobody has responded. I cannot tell you... how... thankful... how honored I am of all of you willing to support in this dangerous attempt. I bow to your trust and true pride of the Kiith Amaj. I thank you, Commander Delixa, over and out.veep"

Lastly, Hailynn noticed Aira approaching her side.

"Aira...", she quietly said to the girl, as she tried to kneel down, "I wish you to know...", the adolescent girl looked upon her caretaker, "I am sorry what I have done to you... Can you ...forgive me?"  
Aira remained silent but gently embraced Hailynn's neck. Her notion said more than thousand words... Hailynn softly laid her hands upon the girl's shoulders, "You must guide us, Aira. Guide us to 'Kadesha's Ark'. You are the only true _unbound_ who can do it."

"B-but... I am an entity...", she quietly replied.  
"No. Shodanii told me something before I fulfilled her _will_, Aira. You may be an entity, but you are much more than that. You are very special – for her - and for us. And there is one thing I have sworn to Shodanii before I ended... her existence..."

Hailynn lifted herself slowly.  
Somehow, Hailynn was not really sure of what she was saying. Part of it was true... but the other part was a fabrication of Hailynn's shame wanting to cleanse her soul by pledging to Aira.

"I have **sworn** to Shodanii to return you to your _Homeworld_, Aira. 'Kadeshi's Ark' may be the only hope for you ever to return to the world our people call: 'The Sea of Lost Souls'... 'The Garden of Kadesh'."

The immense turmoil within Aira's mind slowly weakened as her colorful eyes suddenly widened.

"I don't know of the kadeshi are willing... but I'm not going to let the opportunity fail, Aira. Please, man the sensory station... Lead us to your people."

The girl hesitated for a very long while until she nodded and made her way to the station. Kelsea removed herself, somewhat thankful that she could return to her true proficiency.

Hailynn turned around and spotted Captain Quenton Sobaan who sat next to the empty commanding seat. He greeted her shortly with a salute.

"Commander Orelis."  
"Commander?"  
"Order all units to return to the ship at once. No more delays. Once all units have been confirmed, I wish all entries and docking points to be sealed."  
"At once."

"Commander Delixa, ma'am?", one operative called out.  
"Yes?"  
"Ma'am, I wasn't sure to say this, but a whole group of marines is still far beyond the ship's perimeter. Major Miras and others - I don't know if -- "  
"They are dead. I am sorry to say this... but they have sacrificed their lives for the sake of the ship and its crew... This is a part of my shame I must accept. Are there any others beyond?"

"Negative, ma'am. Once the people around the ship are onboard, we're clear for takeoff."  
"Alright. To all stations, prepare for the deployment of the gravity control profile!"

**- The Great Escape -**

Invisible fields of gravity slowly began to expand from the cruiser as the pulsing sound started to hollow throughout the entire scaffold sector along with a calm but alternating high-pitched frequency resonance. Within the bridge, the charging sounds and confirming voices along with chimes accumulated around Hailynn and the commanding officers who sat upon the commanding seats rowed among the center of the bridge, at the foot of the higher positioned sensory station.

"All stations, status report."  
An asset of voices spoke from all sides.  
"Main gravity field established. Supportive field generators one-through-forty are at optimal levels." "Collaborating guidance field harmonizing with main grav-field in three... two... one... Ma'am, supportive fields are alternating – Helmsman is required to attain control manually." Understood...  
"Reactor output levels nominal." - "All defensive systems green."  
"All crewmen confirmed onboard... Losses excluded, ma'am." – "Observatory and sensory at standing by and awaiting entry to open space!"  
"All hyperdrive systems of the 'Vjel-Amaj' is standing by, ma'am."  
"Overall status report complete. 'Vjel-Amaj' is ready for take-off."

_So... This is it... _

"I assume this will be the last we will see of this... mothership sorrowful sigh. Helmswoman", Hailynn then called out to the front, "Engage levitation profile. Bring her up..."

As all words ended, all was up to Fenna who nervously held the complicated controls while encircled by the multitude of screens, digital avionics panels and pedals – All responsive and awaiting her physical commands.

"Commander! Th-There are people out there!", one of the surveillance operative shouted, "They're f-firing upon the ship! Others are among side, trying to gain entry."

Fenna's voice sounded from the front, "I-I don't want to become a breeder!"

"Keep cool, Fenna. Fire control --", Hailynn replied and threw a look towards the captain. Quenton shook his head, signaling her not to do as she for sure intended: To open fire upon them with the ship's defensive flak system, "—Nevermind..."

It would be far too _inkushane_ (inhumane) to slaughter them, even for revenge.

"R-Roger... Engaging...", the nervous Ensign confirmed, though timidly. Despite the sound of voice, nobody sensed how nervous and anxious she truly was. However, finally gathering enough courage, both of her hands gripped tighter among the horizontal grip-controls and slowly shifted them ahead and forwardly.

Following her cause immediately, all screens, their digital values and indicators, responded immediately as the carrier field below the ship harmonized with all other field, lastly exceeding the balance and generating an ascending force upon the belly of the entire vessel.

Outside of the 'Vjel-Amaj', the noise emitting from all fields became louder as several loose objects including those left behind, even the turanic gunmen, slowly raised from the ground uncontrollable along with the hovering ship that slowly ascended from the ground.

A minor alerting sound scared Fenna, warning her that one portion of the supportive fields maintaining the trim had failed and was about to alter the ship's yaw. Stunned by the 'threat', Fenna hesitated, then tried to find a solution. Unfortunately, her unthoughtful attempts were causing the fields to vary slightly – noticeable for the whole crew by the slight vibrations transmitting.  
"Ensign... What are you doing?", Hailynn called from behind, somewhat slightly irritated, "No.. What? Hey. Stop that! You're destabilizing the whole gravity profile!"

Every single mistake was immediately felt, noticed and perceived by Hailynn's senses. Practically everything that was done wrongly caused the ship to _respond_ reflectively... somewhat telling her exactly what was going wrong and what she would need to do.

"Compensate with – No... No! Not with the thrusters, NOT with the thrusters, for frakk's sake!"

Despite giving her a short moment of thought, Hailynn's cursing continued afterwards... To a point, it was justifiable: The whole cruiser was engaging a lean angle, slightly noticeable by the artificial gravity fields not vertically aligned, but she was more focused on insulting all of her mistakes and vain attempts in compensating the problem. The ship began to slowly hover forward, only by a minor inches but it was more than enough of a warning.

"Ensign! – Alright that's it; I'm going to do it myself. Get off that seat and --!"  
Hailynn suddenly felt a hand upon her shoulder at the same moment she was halfway from getting up from the seat. Ironically, it froze her posture.

"Commander Delixa", Quenton Sobaan said to her, "We all trust your skills as a helmswoman. But this is no longer your task. As of you being the superior commander-in-chief, a commander of such should no longer be at the helm. Commander, Ensign Fenna is alike you... remember..."

Hailynn did not understand at first – but within the same second, his words indeed reminded him of their past... back then, she was an inexperienced pilot and frigate helmsman... alike Fenna... now.

"I have trusted you despite your flawed efforts, Delixa. Please, you must trust her. Support her. Tell her what she needs to do. One by one."

The surprised hiigaran woman sat back down quietly and calmed down.

Fenna held the controls the best she could, luckily, her strenuous holdings held the ship in the awkward position. It was impossible to express how embarrassed she was. She simply neither understood what she did wrong nor what she should do... When suddenly Hailynn's voice sounded from behind, "Fenna... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... I must apologize. Please... Please, do as I say. We'll make it through – Together. Do as I say: Disable supportive fields, 30 through 35 and the array on our stern-starboard. Once that is done, I want you to disable all automated controls you've recently engaged."  
Fenna paused for a long. It took her much courage to even have one of her hands release the controls, for she feared loosing control of the entire ship all at once.

"Good. Okay, hold it right there. Pull your starboard controls by minus one degree and settle your right foot upon the central pedal and lean it downwards by the heel until you have notice the change in our angle... Again – central right pedal, downwards by the heel... Good – Hold it right there."

The inexperienced helmswoman closed her eyes and shivered as the ship rumbled one more time.

"Don't worry – that's natural! No, no – Hold it, don't add any more power!", Hailynn repeated, trying to calm Fenna down, since she somehow noticed her anxiety just by her hand shaking the acute trim control due to its manual settings, "Just wait... Don't worry, the ship will respond, _she_ just needs a while... to get used to you..."

Ironically, the ship did respond after another short while. The false angle and the awkward hovering position slowly corrected itself. For this very moment, Fenna became a bit more confident – if not much.  
"Okay – Good job, Fenna. But now you need to compensate the back-drifting angle or we will end up the same way, but on the opposite bank. Reengage the supportive fields, just two of them for now."

Surprisingly, Hailynn's tutoring proved itself along with Fenna's capability of perceiving her commands. Still, Fenna asked herself why Hailynn had chosen her as the subordinate helmswoman.  
"Alright, Ensign. You've got us trimmed well... But now... How do we get out of here?"  
"There's an access vault that transferred us here – but don't ask me how to activate it now that Shodanii's... control... is no longer available", Orelis replied.

Aira's voice suddenly spoke from above in a monotone manner, "Terminal vault, beta deck, three... Access in progress..."  
"What? 'Access in progress?' H-how...?", he asked with a surprised expression as he saw the upper screen revealing the access gateway high above opening slowly.  
"She was in contact with Shodanii, Orelis – She is now somewhat alike her", Hailynn explained, "I guess she is able to imitate some of her capabilities..."  
"Well, I'll be damned... I'm just glad we're getting out of here - Once and for all!"

At last, the 'Vjel-Amaj' was transferred into the decompressed region of the outer scaffolding and the gigantic hangar. As it was long before, the inner world was filled with a dusty blue-gray haze, slowly moving corpses, debris, minor hulks of destructed vessels and the burst valves of industrial segments throughout the entire limited range and field of view. Once again, it was up to Fenna – and Hailynn's coaching – to guide the ship slowly towards the much desired exit. During the flight, Aira had constantly repeated threatening warnings and occurrences of the mothership's integrity – perceptible by further parts of bursting valves and pipes throwing objects upon ship's hull...

"Oh... my... gods...", Fenna suddenly said as she looked upon the screen ahead.  
Orelis suddenly lifted himself, "What the...!"

As the amaji cruiser approached the open access dock to outer space, all screens revealed a massive amount of vessels outside, residing closely to the mothership.

"H-Hailynn to Chief Brogan!", Hailynn anxiously shouted upon her comm-unit, "Hailynn to Chief Brogan!"  
""Whoa – Brogan here. Hey, Delixa. Good to hear from yah, ma'am! Glad --""  
"Chief! Kill the reactor! Kill all power at once!"  
""slight chuckle Heh, hey is this some kind of joke – like the one you pulled two months ago? Took us a lot of trouble to get it online, y'know. Honestly, not really a good --""

Hailynn yelled even louder, surprising even more people throughout the bridge, "Cut the frakking reactor or we're screwed, Chief – **Hurry**!"

It only took a brief moment until the pure darkness engulfed the entire ship, rendering it merely invisible for the bare eye whilst hidden among the port to open space. Despite the warning announcement, certain areas within the cruiser were caught by surprise. Nonetheless, unrest was actually caused by the random quakes trembling throughout the ship.

As for everybody throughout the bridge, their eyes could only see the faint consoles and frames glowing; obviously powered by a minor independent power grid. Aira continuously spoke in the unusual manner, foremost speaking of the automated announcements and randomly in her kadeshi language. The girl's mind was certainly still confused and under unexplainable influences – However, for a change, she was distracted but a lot calmer than the rest within the bridge.

To this point, Hailynn sunk into her seat slightly. The pressure of stress and despair was affecting her greatly. Her fist smacked upon the side of her sophisticated seat... somewhat angry.  
_Too late..._

For this very moment, Hailynn's mind was shortly entangled by the strains of misery, exhaustion and a brief headache. Thoughts were thrown wildly. Hailynn's entire body ached. The treated physical wounds awoke her, felt by the soreness and the sealed cut upon the joint of her arm. It was clear that she was mentally near a nervous breakdown... but she just could neither faint nor give up – not now.  
She needed to calm down; push herself through yet again – without drugs or any possible medication. Tightening both palms into a fist, she forced herself into breathing unhurriedly, allowing her mind to slowly returned to reality...

"Commander?", Orelis called to her from the side, "Hailey – You alright?"  
She did not answer at first.  
_Think... THINK!_  
"Hai-"  
"Is there any action going on... out there – Have they spotted us?!"  
"What?"  
"Are we compromised?", the wrecked and weary woman asked him.

"Sensory – Any news?", Orelis called out as he lifted himself but unfortunately, Aira was still repeating the same monotone words of warning and nonsense without pause, "Aira? Hey – Aira?!"  
"What's wrong with her?", a voice of an unknown operative questioned from further away.  
"Dunno, but I should have kept Kelsea up there – damn it. Might as well send her up there right now."  
Kelsea gulped.

"Commander Orelis, we took over certain functions of the sensory station already", Kenta called in from the side at the observatory station, "We can't really see much but -"  
Orelis pinched his eyes together. Though he recognized her voice, the entire area was near to pitch black, "Good. What have you got?"  
"Rerouting basic live feed to the main screen and navigation - coming soon. As far as I can tell, it seems as if the enemy fleet is just... moving along... minding their business. I guess they haven't noticed us... but that's about it, commander. "  
"For any other details, we would require some power allocated to sensory, sir", Quan added, "Without Aira not... clear of her senses... well, let's say at least it should allow sensory to percept everything clearly – passively, I mean."  
"They'd blown us to bits by now, anyways", the grumpy officer snarled to the others in a strange ironical tone, "Pretty sure we can allocate the power. Engage backup generators and the emergency lighting. Power allocation to -"

"Forfeit command. Orelis, please wait.", Hailynn's voice suddenly said quietly but still hearable, "Zann?"

"Hm - alright, Hailey. Your call."

"I hear you, ma'am."  
The hiigaran woman rubbed her aching head as she spoke, "Zann, how are our EM emission levels?"  
"With the reactor cut-dead? Well, despite the natural persisting field – we're probably emitting nothing more than that of a small 'Sukolai' shuttle, commander. Anyways, our ship is pretty much well concealed enough by our surroundings. Good thing Fenna parked us away from the edge - without any supportive means of visual guidance..."

Hailynn looked ahead shortly. Indeed, Fenna managed well for a deep-green helmswoman. Although the young pilot acts like a queasy wimp in situations such as this one, this was the first time she took initiative – probably saving the ship from being discovered.  
"Can we maintain our EM-profile low but still keep certain systems powered at the same time?"

The technical engineer frowned, "Ouf... That could be a tough one, commander... – but yes, it is possible. We could keep the reactor down and have capacitors empower basic grids."  
"Passive capture and live feed completed", Kenta announced as the main screen and other secondary ones revealed images – Images and live surveillance feed of the breath-taking fleet floating beyond and among the mothership's perimeter. The view was practically dreadful for every crewmember – excluding Captain Quenton Sobaan.

Fenna sunk into her seat in fear and anxiety. Countless vessels and even an indefinite amount of smaller crafts were slowly levitating among the fields of floating debris, as if they were somewhat haunting... patiently waiting for their prey to come out the hideout, needless to say how petrifying every single vessel of the taiidan-turanic armada appeared. She felt cornered... horrified.

"Why don't we just get out of here!", Fenna suddenly shouted from ahead, surprising everybody by the sudden break of silence, "L-Let's just hyperjump! Here and now!"  
"Whoa! Hey – HEY!", Orelis growled, "Get yourself together, woman!"

"No – Let's go! Now!", the young amaji cried towards the back, hoping she could persuade anyone.  
"Fenna – We can't hyperjump just like that! We must be clear of the mothership's intensive field!", Kenta tried to explain, hoping she calm Fenna down – but failed.  
"Have us just jump with one of our _other_ p-possibilities! L-Let us just do that f-f.. – phase jump - thing then! We'd clear this place before they gun us down!"  
"Without any means of guidance, it'd another blind jump into nowhere! We'd end up anywhere – more likely without finding a way of navigational orientation from that point! We shouldn't dare our luck again like that!"

Both of Fenna's anxious hands curled themselves tightly upon the main controls. Luckily, the ship did not respond. Arguing further, a selected few operatives joined in the rushed discussion.  
"Fenna!", Hailynn's voice thundered from far behind, "That's enough!"

All arguments ended abruptly.  
"Rushing out there would be certain DEATH! They'd blow the whole ship with barrages before you'd blink – so stay put! Alright – Everybody, listen up -!", Hailynn suddenly raised herself from her seat. It took her a short moment to catch her woozy balance though. Gaining the attention of everybody.  
Giving a long sigh, Hailynn shook her head at first, "Fenna is right though... We need to get out of here – but not by gaining all the attention of the galaxy – and I know exactly how to do it. To all stations, 'Code: Purple', here and now!", Hailynn pertly commanded along with a swung hand.

The anxiety throughout the bridge disappeared as Hailynn stood in the darkness, surrounded by the silence – excluding Aira's constant monolog. However, the silence remained for a long time. Although Hailynn was not able to see their faces, something told her that they all were confused by her command.  
"Come on, everybody! Code: Purple! Now!"  
"Hailey", Orelis spoke from her side, "I know all sorts of 'conditions', 'codes', 'situations' and 'status' commands, but I never – ever - heard of _code: purple_ - Honestly. You trying to fill the rainbow in our colorful command set?"  
"What? But -"

"Commander Delixa", the quiet captain suddenly called out, "I fear I must remind you that this vessel and its crew is not a full military unit. I do not need to remind you that this ship has a lot more civilian operatives than military servicemen - but commander: We are the only two upon the bridge who have ever used 'Code: Purple' – The rather… _unofficial_ code. Furthermore, it is a special term that was used during our service in the Hiigaran Navy, upon the 'Talon-Vo'" frigate. Do you remember?"

Hailynn, though wanting to remember herself of the nostalgic moments upon the 'Talon-Vo', shook her head in embarrassment. Luckily, her face was concealed by the darkness.

"So – There is a _purple_?", Orelis snickered, "I thought you were really pulling a joke, commander. slight chuckles – followed by sighing"  
"Commander Delixa, why don't you explain your tactic? Please."

Fenna shook her head, not believing that they were going to have to listen to some silly _war story_ in a time like this.  
The female commander rearranged herself to her seat, lastly recalling the events related to the tactics, "Err – yes, thank you, captain. harrumpf A very _long_ time ago, our frigate, the 'Talon-Vo', survived a sudden onslaught upon one of the distant jump routes during the Hiigara-Vaygr War. It caught our fleet by total surprise. The entire route of retreat was spearheaded by a vaygr crusade that barricaded our direct escape into friendly space.  
We were pursued for... gods... I think that was for four months. Despite efforts in linking up with other lost fleets, we were often on our own, most of the time it was: our prowl versus vaygr – _walls of death_. Code: purple was a special code we used as an immediate and instantaneous all-out command of attaining full subtlety and stealth. All sources of electromagnetic emissions, communication and anything else were to be immediately terminated until further notice.  
Most of the time, we ended up sneaking our way out only using gas exhausters as thrusters applying to the physics of inertia in space – and most of that time, I was at the helm... Trust me, the ship reacted a lot more sluggish than a 'Bishop' transport liner. sigh But let's cut this short. I think we require doing the same – The 'Talon-Vo' was a very good ship, reliable. I am sure the 'Vjel-Amaj' is capable of doing the same despite her… modest size."  
"Well said, commander."

"You sound like you don't want to insult the 'Vjel', heh-heh – but whoa whoa, okay, let me get this straight – Let's say we cut our radiation to zero..", Orelis added –  
"Near-to-zero", Zann corrected -  
"Whatever. Okay that would be the subtle part, but I don't get the _stealth_ part. Now I don't have the slightest clue what type of sensory those turanics or taiidans out there possess – but the 'Vjel-Amaj' would surely still appear on their screens somehow! We don't possess any cloaking or any true concealment systems. I mean, what would stop them from just looking out of the window and spotting us? And how are we to navigate while being this blindly?"

"We are not totally blind, Orelis. Passive surveillance and the drones we still have out there should help us out. If we are lucky, we can catch surveillance feed and we can use the mothership's shadow – if I am seeing things correctly on that screen, it just might work out. Besides, let's hope they keep busy with the refueling and receive word of our existence by the time we're out of here. "  
"Right. Right. I know. _Think positively_", Orelis sighed.

"But foremost: Kenta, I want you to scan that derelict taiidan frigate at seven o'clock once you are able to do so. Figure its passive hull magnetism value or anything that could help us out. If so, we could polarize our hull armor and align its field to that junkyard and –"  
"- and sneak into the herd of sheep. Now I get it."  
"Got it. I'm on it, Hailynn. Sir - Ma'am, I mean."  
"The jump coordinates are locked, too, or?"  
"Yes. We have rearranged our destination the point Aira chose. The one leading us to that _Ark_ place, ma'am."

"Good. That should -"  
"Warning!", Aira suddenly shouted, interrupting her calm speech, "Abnormal gravimetric fields detected! Danger! Field stabilizers T, J, F in sector omicron destabilizing! Alert! Alienating gravimetric field progressing amidst the vessel!"  
"What she talkin' about? Huh?"

Again, the cruiser rumbled, but this time in a lot more intensively than before.  
"Are we under f-f-fire?!", an operative shouted.  
"Negative! The quaking is coming from the mothership j-j-just as Aira said!"

The tremor faded but was still persisting.  
"Commander, multiple comm-requests coming in from all decks", Kelsea reported, "including an urgent one coming from Lieutenant Colonel Manaan, ma'am. Should I patch them through - one by one?"  
"Frell no...sigh Look, patch Kaydaana through but lock all signals down unless predominantly urgent. I wish you to PA a short statement that all communication must seize and maintain radio silence!"  
"Understood. Patching her through to your comm-unit, ma'am. One moment."

The hiigaran commander rubbed her forehead, the headache was still interfering with her mind.  
"C-Colonel Manaan, you may speak."  
Hailynn pressed the key of transmitter.  
"Hailynn here. What is it, Kayda-"

""Whaaat? That you fffshht Hailey – Why'm I always tha' last to know about what's goin' on this ship?! ""  
"Kaydy, what you need?!"  
"For fraggin' sake, I'm tryin' to take a show'r here! We undah attack or what?!"

A faint smacking sound was heard. Obviously, it was Hailynn's hand that slapped upon her already aching forehead.  
"Damn it, Kaydy! Stop fooling around and report to duty! Get your damn self to fighter bay and wait for further orders!"  
""Hey hey hey! Watch yer mouth, old lady, or I'll - veep""

"Gods, that woman got some nerve. Kelsea!", Hailynn said loudly after cutting the comm-line, "I don't care if she happens to burn the ship down – If she calls again, cut her off! And put her comm on lockdown as well!"  
"Y-Yes, ma'am."  
"Zann. You have my 'okay' for powering the grids now – but remember, keep our profile _near-to-zero_ as you said! And power to basic gravity systems – bow, starboard, port and stern, please. Fenna will need them."

"T-That's all I will have to navigate the ship – just _that_?! B-but how am I to -?", Fenna denounced.  
"It'll be as sluggish as hell, Ensign, I know. Just stay focused to my navigational commands. Let's get going…"

**Haven lost.**

Twenty minutes later...  
Leaving the enormous world of taiidan mothership behind, the nimble 'Vjel-Amaj' slowly departed from the port into the dreadful territory of space that was filled with innumerable vessels, debris and fields of junk and hulks of derelicts. Surrounded by the armada, it became clear that there was no way in turning back. Capitol ships were almost everywhere. Mixed feelings did prevail. However, escaping the stench of rotting death and its history was more than enough for a reason to depart. The mothership, once a daunting ghost ship of a strange consciousness offering refuge, was now soon to become a ensnaring death trap.

Able to maintain stealth, the ship successfully extracted the remaining drones, luckily sparing the ship of extensive financial costs for replacement units. Despite their success, the crew – foremost the helmswoman – was in deep anxiety and despair. Every floating object that repeatedly bounced upon the hull of the cruiser transmitted sounds dreadfully, scaring those who were too nervous. The creeping feeling of being discovered disturbed nearly everybody.

Ever since departure had Hailynn constantly given navigational orders directly to Fenna, who did the best she could, although she was a lot more scared than ever. The flight through the comet while being chased by the vaygr made it hard to actually decide whichever situation she _suffered through_ was worse. Indeed, it was outright difficult for her to perform precise maneuvers, even the simplest ones. The cruiser was simply too unresponsive due to the super low profile of 'codeurple'.  
Hailynn constantly gave simple commands of flight corrections and the desired durations followed by Fenna's response of doing so the best she could. Unfortunately, the young helmswoman often performed the orders too imprecise.  
From time to time, she would lose control due to her inexperience, confusions and fumbles with the many pairs sophisticated controls to her disposal. Nonetheless, the ship still drifted away whilst bypassing under the eyes of the surrounding _predators_.

"Somebody has to explain me just _how_ these frakkers managed survived for so long in this space", Orelis grumbled.  
"Long story – I'll tell you about it when… if… we get out of this place alive."  
"Look at the… size… of that vessel."  
He pointed upon the screen, referring to the most dominant vessel resembling the mobile outpost of the turanics that resided upon the side of the mothership, levitating within the vast field of debris. Obviously, it was docked and for sure was conducting fuel and power into its core. Furthermore, it seemed as if they ignored the warnings and the gravitational fields erupting throughout the entire mothership.  
"Hmm…", Hailynn hummed.  
"What's wrong?"  
"That mothership is having an earthquake and they all are still docking?"  
"Beats me –"

It seemed as if they were craving for recharging their propulsion cells... as if they were desperate. Orelis shook his head and crossed his arms when he suddenly noticed the _silence_. After looking at Hailynn and other operatives at first, they all raised their heads towards Aira.

The kadeshi girl ended her speech so abruptly that her sudden pause caught the attention of the crew among the bridge. Though her mind was still plagued by wild memories, voices and other faint but confusing reminiscences, her mind suddenly lost the mental connection to the mothership's dull-minded A.I. that constantly spoke through her lips. Lastly, the girl found herself surrounded by that _darkness_ yet again to her surprise.

"Aira? Are you alright? Can you hear me now?", Hailynn called upwards.  
"I... I... Where? I was down n-next to you, my naji, w-when -"  
"Glad you are back to your senses, Ai', but please stay calm up there. We're very busy right now. Just – stay calm."

The adolescent girl nodded quietly.  
"We got a problem...", Quan noted, "We've got an incoming group of three vessels, battlecruiser class, coming in from eight o'clock high! Speed unknown, but they're approaching slightly faster than our drift"  
"Did they detect us?", Orelis asked, "Or should we charge the reactor, commander?"

"Let's not get overhasty, Orelis."

"I don't think they detected us, sir. I don't see any sensor sweeps focused upon us", Quan added.  
"Rough guess would be that they're heading on some patrol route", his sister assumed.  
"Well. Lucky us grumbles."  
"We're still as visible as a piece of junk on their sensory", Zann added lastly, "As long as we don't do any hasted or unusual movements, we should be able to maintain our stealth."

"Fenna, you see the hull skeleton of that taiidan destroyer? I want you to bring the ship under the area that offers enough space for us. Once we are close enough, I want you, Zann, to alter the hull polarization to magnetize and attract us to that skeleton!"  
"Roger that. I'm on it"  
"Eh..."  
"I will guide you, Fenna."

Doing as Hailynn ordered, each of her commands led the ship to the desired location after slowly altering the yaw and motion of the vessel. They were running out of time. The group of three battlecruisers was coming dangerously close to their vicinity. Polarizing the hull respectively, the 'Vjel-Amaj' and the hulking remains magnetized each other that lastly led to attraction. Feeling the minor impact, it was clear to Fenna that the ship had planted foothold upon it. The 'Vjel-Amaj' was now partially concealed by the derelict hull, hidden within its 'ribs'.

"I don't believe it, it worked...", the nervous helmswoman commented, "Now what?"  
"We'll know if it worked as soon as we know how those damn idiots react, Ensign…"  
"Gravity impulse, one-seventh ahead to vector 3 o'clock, for two seconds. Make the hull and us drift sideways. Should look authentic enough for us to look like a floating piece of scrap."

Though mistakenly doing a much stronger impulse, the entire hull began to move ahead – unnoticed for the approaching group due to the infinite amount of objects floating through the entire sphere.  
"They're coming closer...", Quan reported once more.  
"I don't like the looks of this. You sure they're not frakking this up?", Orelis asked with a note of concern, "I know this place is swarming with them, but for them coming that close to us. That is way too much for being a simple coincidence!"  
"Steady as she goes", the hiigaran officer replied, "It's too late to get out of this."

To the surprise of everybody, the three battlecruisers surrounded the floating hulk very slowly. The vessels indeed did not seem to have detected them but due to their slow pace, they somewhat escorted the concealed amaji cruiser without knowing of its existence within.

"Stay calm... stay calm", Hailynn whispered anxiously, "We're just dead fish floating...".  
"Why are you whispering?", Orelis asked quietly.

Hailynn curled her palms to fists again, now she was the one who was getting nervous. Another three minutes went by until the vessels that drifted beside slowly advanced.  
"A group of strikecrafts have bypassed the yellow perimeter but is on an alternating course. No danger at all.", Quan reported again.

"No..."  
"What?", Orelis said and turned his head, looking upwards towards the girl that suddenly said something, "What's wrong?"  
"No... No!", Aira cried, "No!"  
"She going crazy again?"  
"A-Abnormal... gravity field... I-I... I can feel it! D-Destructive... Immensive – Na'gra tath!"

"Whooooa... whoa!", Quan suddenly said, "H-Hey, she's... right!"  
"What's going on?!"  
"The mothership, it's..."  
"Patch live feed to our stern!", Hailynn ordered at once.

Within a short moment, all eyes turned ahead to the main screen that soon revealed an occurrences developing between the enormous mothership and the vessels that docked upon the exterior hull. Shocked by the sudden event, all eyes witnessed an invisible force somewhat clashing upon the hull of the mothership and the largest vessel of the armada, invisibly crushing minor sections.

Several minor stars flashed amidst that area, a small portion of the smaller fighters suddenly imploded without notice – soon followed by a small hull segment of the mothership rupturing to towards outer space. Gushes of gases and other fluent masses burst into space…

"What the -!"  
"You've got to be kidding me..."  
"C-Commander...", Kenta noted with the notion of dread in her voice, "The entire gravity field persisting among the mothership is.. de-harmonizing! It's alternating!"  
"Frakk..."

Hailynn dropped her shoulders. They haven't even reached one-fifth of the trip into the wake and away from the gravitational field for hyperjump clearance. Unfortunately, things became worse as Kenta's images revealed rotating strains of gravimetric force emitting from the humongous mothership. Despite both observatory and sensory stations being underpowered, the passive surveillance was sufficient enough to percept the imminent dangers that were forming from far behind.

"Oh my...", the amaji operative said quietly...  
"Report!"  
"G-Gravity well! Strains of gravity fields have excluded themselves and are waving through the entire region! Oh my gods, one of the more intensive fields have enveloped twelve... no, thirty-two of the capitol vessels... I-I cannot count the amount of fighters being...!"

The low-detailed live feed only gave a weak impression of what was occurring beyond.  
"Commander!", an operative announced from the other side of the bridge, "The three battlecruisers are breaking away!"  
"Ha, looks like they got surprised too and don't know what's going on, eh?", Orelis snarled, "This might be our chance to get out of here!"  
"Not yet", Hailynn noted, "Let's -"

"Incoming! Gravity well strain!"  
"What?!"  
"Are we going to get crushed?!", Fenna cried in despair.  
"Negative – It will only pull us to the source that is resonating from the mothership! But with the other gravimetric fields crushing everything at the near vicinity of the mothership – it'll pull us into deep trouble!", Kenta explained.  
"Crap – Fenna, get us out of here before -!"

Too late.  
The gravity well strain emitted nearly instantaneously, causing the hulk, the hidden cruiser, and an indefinite amount of debris to be attracted towards the mothership's area. Slowly gaining reverse movement, it became clear that the gravity well was pulling every mass in space. This must have been what Shodanii focused for, the cause for sabotaging the flux generators of the mothership, the effect leading to the entire vicinity to be crushed by the intensive reactive force of gravity.

As for many of the crew, none could believe their eyes as they witnessed the once massive armada of turanic and taiidan desperately trying to swarm and spread out. All vessels and fighters were seemingly urging to spread out like a immense flock of scared birds.  
"Zann – depolarization now! Fenna – get us out of here!"  
"'Depol' done but I doubt we're getting out of here that easy, ma'am!"

The ship gained on negative speed, moving backwards towards the mothership.  
"I have no control! Gravity controls are not working!"  
"Hull integrity under stress!", a technician operative noted.  
"Damn... Of course... How are the fields to work if a much powerful one is negating ours?!", Orelis snarled again ironically, "If we want to have our grav-field working against this one, we're going to have to charge that reactor, Hailynn!"  
The gravity well affected the entire crew.  
"That will blow our cover!"  
"We've not much of a choice, do we, Hailey?!"

She closed her eyes.

Short moments later...  
The hulk spun into the vicinity of the confused armada again, unable to escape the sudden grip of the invisible force that either immobilized or crushed its victims. But just before the hulk bashed upon one of the larger vessels held by the gravity well, the nimble amaji cruiser suddenly released itself from the spinning hulk.  
"All stations! Code: Red!", Hailynn shouted, soon to be followed by the command of powering all stations. Within moments, all of the artificial lightning lit throughout the ship. Countless amounts of junk and other objects rained upon the 'Vjel-Amaj'.

"Stabilize the ship! Hurry!"  
Fenna desperately grabbed her controls and fought as hard as she could to retain all gravity controls in order to repel forceful affecting gravity well. Barely able to regain control, the ship ended its spin and caught itself amidst the dense region of debris. Unfortunately, due to the long and strenuous attempt of detaching from their hideout, the 'Vjel-Amaj' was thrown back, and found itself dangerously close to the mothership and its alienating fields a destruction.

"That was close…! Too close…!", Quan shouted, "We were nearly enveloped by that crushing strain!"  
"Fluxing power to the grids!", Zann announced, "Few more seconds till completion!"

Within moments, the entire cruiser came back to full life. At last, the ship held its position as its gravity containment field equalized the negative pull. However, at the very moment the ship attained full power, both Quan and Kenta noticed a plethora of signals and rays being focused upon their ship.

"We've been detected!"  
"Well that had to happen, damn it!", Orelis cursed loudly, "Ensign Fenna! Full speed ahead – get us out of here!"  
"I'm trying to but -"

The ship swung to the side but was still gripped by the gravity well strain holding the ship.

"More power to the gravity units!", Hailynn ordered directly to Zann, who immediately relayed her commands further to the engineering deck. Within the desperate moment, the field units immediately responded and resonated an alternating field leading to the release from the entrapping gravity well. More debris rained towards the cruisers direction, soon followed by a taiidan frigate that luckily bypassed them barely.

"I'd rather hyperjump know if we could!", Orelis shouted.  
"No-can-do! The -"  
"Yeah yeah, I know! The damn grav-well! But for frakk's sake, let's get out of here!", he shouted back at Kenta.

"Zann! Don't expand the exteriors and nacelles yet! The last thing we need to happen is to have them suffer severe damage!"  
"Understood – but we shouldn't delay it for too long, ma'am! Chief Brogan reported that the conduits are standing-by but won't hold for all too long! The lower starboard conduit is instable, but if we jump soon enough, it should keep together till we get home!"

Hailynn nodded.  
"Alert! Incoming fire!", one of the fire control operative announced in despair, "Enemy fire approaching from a high vector!"

Though being tormented by the fields of destruction and disturbances, the shrouding fleet of turanic and taiidan vessel indeed noticed the unknown vessel – Without any terms of identification, barrages were fired upon the cruiser. Everybody within the bridge braced themselves, unsure if they were actually going to survive the attack… when suddenly… Only a selected batch of artillery fire actually bypassed the cruiser moments later – the portion of the barrages that came closest to their target…

"Wha- Did they forget to aim or are they shooting with duds?!", Orelis snarled, though surprised.  
"Negative – it's the gravity well emitting from the mothership! The gravity vortex has thrown a strain amidst our position! While we were protected by our own containment field, the artillery fire was misled into a totally different trajectory!", Kenta explained, surprised, but joyful – actually thankful for her prayers being heard.  
"Well – burn my soul! El-oh-el…!", Orelis said quietly.  
"What?!"  
"Nothing, just a military term for 'lucky us' or something!"

Another segment of the mothership's outer hull ruptured, this time whipping an unusual strain of an explosion affected by the immense gravity attractions. Hundreds to thousands of objects were ripped into open space – everything, from hulking vehicles to a massive amount of corpses.

"Fighters and frigates that are somewhat free of the gravity fields have dispatched themselves from the armada, ma'am!"  
"They're coming for us!"  
"We shall wait no longer! Announce to the entire ship that 'code:black' will engage soon, so have everybody brace themselves – Helmswoman, maximum power to thrusters!", Hailynn demanded loudly.

Aira anxiously fumbled with her seat-harnessers.  
"Hailynn, the whole _galaxy_ is being sucked here!", Fenna cursed, "How am I to dodge all of this stuff coming in by flying that fast?!"  
"You made it through that comet dodging everything, Fenna! Damn it -!"  
"You can't be honest -!"

"Frakk, set the automated sequencers and A.I.-supporters like you did back then at the comet if you must! I don't care if you are going to fly us into a goddamn dreadnought – but for frakk's sake, get us OUT OF HERE!", Hailynn shouted at her as loud as she could.  
Fenna nervously bit her teeth together as she swung herself back into the seat and settled her grips upon the designated controls. The burst of thrusters was going to make this flight into another wild and uncontrollable ride – just like in the comet back then… but she had no choice.

"Have it your way – but you asked for it!", the young amaji shouted back, jamming the controls ahead while stretching her legs, down-thrusting the selected pedals that dealt for the thrusters.

Instantaneously, all fusion thrusters of the 'Vjel-Amaj' flashed, then ignited, lastly blasting pure fusion energy that launched the elegant cruiser ahead. Due to the ship's inertia being suppressed by the containment fields, the thrusting force was a lot more intensive, allowing the ship to attain high acceleration in a matter of seconds. Despite the inertial stabilizers and dampers, the entire crew felt the pressure, but due to Hailynn's treated injuries, it was her who suffered the most from pain.

Barely able to dodge the incoming masses, Fenna frantically threw the gravity controls from one side to another, causing the vessel to barrel-roll, yaw and spin, even more flying so awkwardly that even she had lost orientation. But nonetheless thanks to her _freedom_ in allocating certain controls to the automated systems, the controls among her automatically suppressed and corrected most of her mistakes almost instantly. Astonishingly, her unusual erratic maneuverings were surprisingly dodging most of the dangers relayed upon her screen such as gravity well strains, derelict obstacles but foremost, heavy fire.

The kadeshi girl braced herself fearfully. The pressure was merely crushing her frail body. Despite all the excitement, her fragile mind was elsewhere. Innermost, she felt the nearness of the mothership flowing from her hands.

_No…! Nooooo!_

More parts of the mothership imploded, a large segment of its super-solid integrity bending and crushing like a weak stick. Explosions engulfed the nearby vessels that tried to escape, but lastly were they consumed by the gravity vortex in an instant, so immersive that nothing could escape its deadly grip.  
Tears flew horizontally from Aira's eyes.  
The gigantic mothership was becoming smaller as thousands of objects dashed passed her mentally.

_Shodanii…!_

To Orelis' surprise, Fenna was really urging to survive this as she heard her cursing around – almost as much as Hailynn whilst slamming the controls at all directions. The sounds of debris raining upon the hull were slowly starting to fade away.

"W-We're nearing the last perimeter of the spherical gravity well!", Kenta reported.  
"You call that _spherical_?!", Quan shouted, referring to distorted fields among them and the mothership.  
Looking far ahead, Hailynn spotted the alternating wall of dense gas clouds, barely showing any objects or obstacles but minor debris parts.  
"Gravity well effects failing! We're coming free of its effects!"  
"This is our chance! Zann, deploy all exteriors and the nacelles!", Hailynn shouted towards his direction.

Without any delay, the nimble cruiser thrusting at blinding speed like a rocket slowly deployed its nacelles.  
"Upper starboard – locked. Portside, upper and lower… locked! Lower starboooarard… Bingo! All nacelles locked! Conduits charged! Contacting engineering for last preparations, commander!"  
"Got it!"

Quan's eyes followed the small blips still following the ship upon his screens, "We still got followers hot on our tail but they're closing in way too slow! Ha – bet they didn't expect us getting away with it!"  
Her brother sounded somewhat euphoric, but Kenta smiled. Everybody had the reason to be this anxious.

_Shodanii! Bear my prayers! My soul cannot accept your… sacrifice! I beg you – Please forgive my… my failure in… saving your soul!_, Aira's mind shouted, but no voice was to head her prayer. Aira clenched both of her hands into fists, _My soul needs you… Where… Guidance… How? My -_

_Faith…_, a faint voice echoed…

Aira's eyes widened at the same moment the sudden flash blinded her view, followed by the feeling of an energetic heat wave merely burning her skin. The girl screamed in agony.

The entire region behind the 'Vjel-Amaj' flashed…  
Surprised by the sudden flash, everybody's euphoric reactions ended at once.

"Gods of Kharak…", Kenta prayed, "T-The mothership has … e-exploded!"  
Shockwaves of energy, light, explosions and distorted gravity strains hurled into all directions.

"Hearing waves of too many transmissions flooding the entire broadband!", Kelsea reported loudly, "T-They're… They're – I don't know! They -"  
"Shockwaves are engulfing the region!"

Heavy long-range artillery fire missed the cruiser yet again.

"Entering gas field in a few seconds!", Fenna shouted, needless to say how fretfully she stared upon the gas shroud they were approaching.  
"Commander! I seriously advise to get out of here!", Kenta advised, "The shockwave is far too i-immense! We won't -"  
"That hyperdrive ready?! Don't disappoint us, Chief!", Orelis called out to the engineering deck.

""Heh! She's hot and ready to go! It's _now or never_, bridge!"", Brogan's voice replied over the speakers.  
"Relative distance to our destination is approximately 878 HU away from this current position according to our map! I have **no** idea how large this nebula is, but it'll be one frell of a jump - ", Kenta repeated, "Now or never!"  
""I have all jump sequences ready. No need for countdown with her drives running hot and it won't be a long flight with her drives running like this – you can count on that! You give me the order and we're outta here, bridge!""

"Jump coordinates locked! Hyperdrive ready! Code: Black already applied! All stations green!", Zann lastly reported and showed Hailynn a 'thumbs-up'.  
"Now or never… Hailey!", Orelis repeated as well.

Nearly everybody turned their view over to the wrecked-looking commander. Hailynn laid her back gently upon her seat as the ship rumbled further. Despite all of the pain she was suffering due to the pressure caused by the immense thrust, nothing stopped her from her victorious smile.  
"Brace for impact… Commence hyperspace jump… JUMP!", she shouted.

That time and again, the entire vessel hummed increasingly as the resonating field enveloped the cruiser.

_She lowered her view as the unimaginable size of the shockwave approached her position. Gigantic fragments of the mothership shattered among the everlasting glowing field of pure death. Feeling the heat at first, Aira feared of her future. Suddenly, her skin tickled and trembled. Goosebumps… Glimpsing over her shoulder, she felt the cold wall of energy slowly slipping upon her skin… soon to quietly pull her into its cold bane._

Her hair suddenly was blown towards the front in an instant.  
Within her heartbeat, the fields of gases, the shockwave, the dying armada of turanics and taiidans, the derelict graveyard and lastly, the destructed region resembling the remains of the mothership froze, then instantly dashed away, followed by violent streams of hyperspace rushing past her view. Aira's hand stretched out but never was it to feel the warmth of the being her soul sought for ever again in her entire life…  
Faith - That was all her soul endeavored to repeat. Aira's soul could not explain if the faint voice she heard was from the sorrowed being…

A single tear drop fell from her eye, falling away into the endless stream.

Fair well… Shodanii… I pray for your… lost soul… May Rahji… guide you to… eternal freedom 


	18. Chapter 18 part 1 of 2

_Echoing cries…_

The once beautiful song slowly faded from her mind. She desperately tried to recall but failed vainly. The blazing wind that represented the violent fabrics of hyperspace gushed like a wild storm, roaring much louder that it used to be. She cowered, frantically braced herself.

_The flash blinded her eyes as her mind loosely recalled the recent cause for this intensive confusion. The massive mothership, the behemoth that was once proudly constructed by a vast empire and guided by a beautiful mind shattered in an instant – It's hull burst asunder, it's structure… it's entire body merely crushed by dreadful hands of death and all of the space among it._

No longer was Shodanii's song existent within her psyche; left were only shattered reminiscences of the divine spirit. The noise – Those frightening sounds scared her again. Though her mind was being tormented, the avatar of this enigmatic girl refused to disassemble her psyche from this world. Ever since, she kept her eyes closed – The usual reaction of her fret to the vast world of the veil hyperspace - but as time slowly, the girl hesitantly opened them. Shodanii showed her once that she needed not to fear this _world_… respect it, but not to fear it…

Confusingly, whilst feeling a grip loosening yet urged by a sudden frightening grasp at the same time, the girl tightened her arms among her body. Her senses were bewildered… yet she knew something was happening as the time flew. The gushing fabrics of hyperspace still dashed liked a storm, rushing through her hair and among her body that forced her to pinch her eyes together.

_C-coooold..._

The star…  
Her weak eyes perceived the star, deep within Rahji's lost heart, the sun of this system that slowly shriveled to a perfect dot that frequently changed its colors as the shrouds covered it by her increasing retreat from it. Despite its size, its majestic gravity was slowly failing as the distance became greater, thus its calm warmth faded away, slowly surrounding the girl by death's cold surroundings. Barely was the girl able to heed its _song_, the only melody that scarcely protected her heart from imminent fear. Her hand grasped both Kadesha's Eye and Tear as tightly as she could…

But as the kadeshi girl cowered amidst the rushing winds, something slowly began to tempt her mind. Though desperately trying to keep her eyes focused upon her pendant, the feeling grew in such manner that it simply became impossible for her to ignore. The feeling was so appalling that it frightened the girl even more. Something was ahead, far beyond her limited view – She could not see it, therefore were eyes too weak, her view too shrouded – but her psyche that mysteriously sensed it. Something was out there and among that area, something was happening at this very moment….

"H-Hey – Hailey?!", Orelis' voice called loudly from the side.  
The entire ship, but foremost the bridge, witnessed the hyperjump as an intensive flight to its 

destination. As a perhaps redundant but common security measure for the ship, all power grids were shut down to avoid any influences or possible issues, leaving all areas dark.

"Yeeeeeah?!", she painfully shouted back at him. Everybody felt the force shaking them back and forth. Unfortunately, the unpredictable turbulences were causing severe problems for Hailynn. The seat harnesser, while keeping her from being tossed away, was constantly squeezing her injured body, foremost her neck and torso.

"Fenna, there's a 'field' coming up!", an operative announced from the side at the same time ," I-If you can, try to alter our glide path a bit! Better hurry!"

"W-will try to… do so!", Fenna yelled back and did the best she could to avoid the upcoming obstacle that might cause even more heavier turbulences. With the ship being powered down entirely, Fenna only had special controls to her disposal that were capable altering the ship's course without the use of any primary propulsion systems.

"Hailey – when this damn flight is over – I've GOT to ask you a question!"  
"Yeah – Got it…"

Another fourteen minutes later and somewhere at the farthest rim of the M'randara star system…  
At last, the 'Vjel-Amaj' emerged safely from hyperspace as it pulled streams of violent ethereal fabrics due to the vessel's high velocity before entry. The quantum field slipped upon its hull until it revealed the ship fully, soon to slowly fold together again and collapse.

The bridge crew calmed down along with the rumbling noise and the sound of the humming that slowly faded away. Mixed reactions echoed through the darkness - Some cheered, other gave loud sighs – but mostly were comments heard of surviving along with another few prancing about the recent confrontation that could have gone bad. Velle, who sat strapped up in her seat at the side shook her head, having reasons enough of feeling unease. Soon, standard artificial lighting flooded the bridge, followed by the sounds of power grids empowering the bridge and air conditioning. Not letting another moment pass by, Orelis detached himself from his seat and called out an immediate status report request to certain stations.

"Minor casualty reports from sickbay and medical teams. No deaths. thank goodness"

"Hyperjump completed – back in normal space!", one of the navigation operatives reported, "Judging the duration of jump and the FTL-type, we've flown a distance of approximately eight-seven-eight-point-three-four HUs. I cannot confirm if we have a NTP."

"Err… Commander –!", Zann called back.

"What it is?!"

"Not sure, but there's an _urgent_ call coming from engineering, sir! Something is wrong with -"  


"Packard!"

Already reacting to the occurrence, Packard signaled Orelis that his unit had been already patched through to the designated request.

"Engineering, any -?"

""Bridge! pant"", Chief Brogan's shouted over the speakers anxiously, ""We need to expose the hyperdrive conduits, NOW!""

Orelis and several others were overwhelmed by his sudden shouting.  
"Brogan, what's the problem?!"  
It sounded as if Brogan was in a desperate haste to get to certain place, ""Bridge, no time for explanations – We need that damn clearance, stat! Or you wanna have that nacelle blow up in thousands of pieces?!""

Without need of having that been told again, Orelis understood that the situation was critical, "Obs! Are we clear of any dangers?! Any contacts out there?!"

"Sending out a _s-ping_! Q, keep an eye on the screens!", Kenta frantically shouted back and hammered her fingers upon. Executing a special script, a multi-phased tone chimed from her station.

"Wh-What the frakk is a 's-ping'?!", the anxious deck officer growled.

"I-It's just a passive way to receive echo signals w-without…!", obviously, she was intimidated by the sudden situation.

"Nothing but gas out there in a 50km radius – solid objects are out there but they are too small to be anything worthwhile to mention!", Quan added, luckily taking over his intimidated sister's speech, "Not likely we'll be noticed by radiation or emissions spraying everywhere, sir!"

"Clearance granted! Do what you must, Brogan!"

Within short moments, the conduit units of the nacelles were exposed to outer space openly, allowing the overloaded segments to radiate their extensive heat and other negative emissions. A dangerous undertaking since this left one of the actual vital coils of the hyperdrive core to open space like an open wound. Fortunately, Brogan observed all gauges upon the screens diminishing along with other engineers announcing that the danger was being confined. All conduits and the hyperdrive core entered the automatic cooldown procedure to replenish for the next jump.

Following the event over Zann's screen, Orelis noticed the same as well. By now, everybody remained quiet as they were surprised by the sudden seriousness of the situation that could have gone much worse.



"Brogan… What the frakk was this all about?!"

""Nacelle nearly blowing up due to overloading? Hello? Did you guys up there just miss the whole action or what?!"", Brogan's voice snarled over the speaker angrily.

"No - Why did those nacelles nearly blow up on us?! Since when do we have to deploy nacelles the _old fashion_ way?!"

""Hey – That jump type was a very special one we pulled out of our sleeves down here, Commander Orelis!""

"So?!"

""So?! We had to perform one of our alternative jump methods just to get away from that area of space! We only had _one_ single chance – luckily with a conduit being graceful enough not to breach in our faces!""

"Last time I heard about such a whacked jump method was on some history chip! Was that some kind of joke?! Why don't you just ask one of us to push the ship from behind next time and -- "

The argument between Orelis and Brogan continued further without pause. Each and one of them threw comments dealing with the past situation during the desperate escape from the gravity well and the enveloping destruction of the taiidan mothership – On one side, Orelis, who argued about his stress while maintaining overwatch and command, while Brogan on the other side shouted technical terms, the facts of FTL propulsion technologies and prototype jump methods that stood to their disposal.

"Both of you, STOP!", Velle nervously shouted from behind.  
Both, her superior officer and the voice of Brogan ended their argument abruptly.  
"Can't you two just be satisfied that we SURVIVED?! Just… Just STOP IT!", the young amaji woman yelled at them.  
A long moment of silence and hesitation went by. Velle laid her hand upon her forehead in slight disgrace for reacting so emotional. What surprised her most was the calm attitude of the former sobanni captain who quietly let these things happened.

"sigh You're right… Engineering – anything else?"  
""long pant and sigh No.""

"Fine. Bridge, out.", Orelis replied with firm words and signaled Packard to end the uplink. He nodded quietly towards Velle, showing that he did in fact react wrong, "Everybody, I am sorry about my harsh reactions. I hope I didn't cause any hard feelings -"

"You've got to be kidding me", Kenta said with an unstable voice.

"Kenta, really, I'm sorry. Look: What was that 's-ping' thing you recently performed? Never heard of it."



"It's a _trick_ from my sister, com-man-der, that she developed during our time at the academy", Quan replied for her, sounding slightly angry, "A faked 'solar' radiation wave emitted from one of the arrays that echoes upon anything in space in a split second. While it gives our observatory some limited ranged data of what is among our region, it would seem like a natural but inconspicuous solar occurrence for others... Sir."

Turning around to Hailynn, Orelis took the opportunity to remind her of the question he wanted to ask her. At the same time, Captain Quenton shook upon the side of Hailynn's shoulder. Waking up suddenly, she hectically looked around, somewhat disorientated, "W-Where – What?"  
"Hailynn?"

She rubbed her eyes several times, "I-I must've… coughs passed out… gasp – coughs"

Concerned by her unexpected coughing, Orelis wondered if she was alright. Each breath she took was deep and hollow, as if she had choked by swallowing incorrectly – but this coughing really sounded a lot more worrisome.

"Jusss- gasps give me a sec, will you… deep coughs", Hailynn slurred as she forced herself to calm down, "Figure out where we are - cough", hoping to distract them while she caught her breath. Sore pain was stabbing from the side of her chest.

"A-As you wish, Hailey. Obs, sensory, nav – any chance in giving us some surveillance of our surroundings and emerge point accuracy?"

"Negative on visual survey right now, sir", the navigation operative from before replied to him, "Gases blocking the view, limited view up to 500 meters, commander. Helmswoman Fenna should be seeing this right now."

"Aye…" Indeed, Fenna stared upon waves and walls of gas fields moving right through them on the bow interfaces, self-explanatory to the fact that the ship was still moving ahead with the same velocity before the desperate jump.  
"Nothing on 'gravimetrics' in the 50km vicinity either", another operative added from his side.

"Wow – Hey, that's at least 500 meters more than before. At least some good news", the tenacious commanding officer snarled, "Anything else?"

"Well, according to that s-ping Kenta emitted, there seems to be a lot of layers of gas formations compressed here among us but it is not that dense at all", Quan noted with a firm voice,

"Certain scanning".

"Oh yeah, commander – We are still moving ahead with high speed. Should we slow down?"  
Fenna grabbed the controls again but was told by Orelis to wait,  


"Not sure where we heading, are we? As long as there is nothing we're crashing in for, we should be fine. Helm will need some sort of navigational orientation though. Obs, can't you do something about that?"

"That would take a long while, sir, we'd have to recalibrate the sensory systems and all of our arrays again just to adapt to the density and -"

Unexpectedly, both the observatory screens of Kenta and Quan filled itself with astronomical information in such an instant that even Fenna turned around to them. The effective range of all sensorial data increased greatly. All of Fenna's navigational aids and interfaces were fed with guidance information as well. In a matter of seconds, both helm and observatory stations were applied with acceptable navigational data allowing more visual depth into the vicinity of the ship, easily seen by frames and transparent layers revealing view into the gas clouds ahead.

"H-How did you do -?!"

"What you lookin' at me, Fenn'?!", Kenta noted with a startled face, "I-I didn't do a thing!"

Everybody looked upwards towards the sensory station as the kadeshi girl spoke with open eyes, "Live sensorial feed to all stations. Diverting available power to arrays 'optronics' and 'surveillance'. Guidance systems supported by sensory. Efficiency maintained by observatory and navigation arrays." Aira's eyes were looking ahead into the open - Her frozen glare staring at nothing.

Typically, Orelis raised one of his eyebrows along with a few wrinkles upon his forehead, "How'd she do that? And who the frell told her to do that all that?! Since when is she in control of power allocation?!"

"Well – She _is_ the sensory operative, s-sir", Kenta quietly said from the side.

"Yeah, but how'd she do that _without_ the holosphere online?! The orbs on her station are not even active at the moment!"

Indeed, Aira caused all effects without having her station being induced by power.

"She's still lost in mind…"  
"sigh As usual. grumbles"

"Sir", the navigation operative added, "I was able to calculate our jump accuracy… NTP by a divergence of… 7!"

"Near-To-Perfect jump, only 7 away?!", Kenta asked with an astonished face. Indeed, her observatory verified all parameters.  
"I've got some waypoints fixed on my helm, too", Fenna announced, "G-Guess that'll lead us to that _place_, but it's several thousands of klicks away."  


As the others spoke, Hailynn felt strange thick droplets upon the hand she used to cover her mouth while coughing. Gasping quietly, she stared upon it with wide eyes as she discovered several droplets of blood randomly spread upon her palm. She tightened her hand to a fist, smearing the blood with great worry.  
Hailynn did not know much about medical nanotechnology, but as of being a former marine, who received injuries several times in her former career, knew that nano-treatments were some sort of injected packs of nanobots that treated wounds or any dangerous injuries effectively and to a certain point – but also, those were only used as a temporary solution. Her thoughts came to the conclusion that the nanobots were failing…

"Hey, Hailey – I see you've calmed yourself down", Orelis' trusted voice sounded from ahead of her, "About that question…"

The worried hiigaran woman held her fist in front of her mouth whilst leaning upon the same elbow, "Yes… Go ahead."  
Orelis straightened his back while at the same time crossing his arms, "Commander. Hailynn. Are you _sure_… about all of this?"

"W-What? I don't understand…"

"'bout what you have planned. The girl, Aira, and that _kadeshi_ monstrosi- eh, fleet? "

Hailynn hesitated to answer. Furthermore, she wiped and licked the remaining blood droplets she tasted from her lips, hoping to hide the blood from the others. Each breath she took was seriously painful – unbelievable for her to actually not show any painful moaning but sweat.

"Look, Hailey. I know you want the best for Aira, so do I, but aren't you taking this a bit too serious? I mean, with all respect and regards to the girl's heritage, but when I hear _kadeshi_, I get the **creeps**. It IS a fleet out there, for gods' sake!"

"Speak.. painful moaning f-further…"

"If I understood things right, our ancestors never met the kadeshi beyond that 'Lost Soul's Sea' or what you said to her long time ago – Frell, this is a premiere meeting after several decades – and, oh yeah: Let's not forget their _welcoming_ greet when we just arrived in this gods-forsaken system, Hailynn."

"I almost forgot myself – Ion beams…", one of the female logistics operative noted from the far side.  
"Aye", Orelis cleared his voice, "Just how do we know they will concur in this… tradeoff with Aira? I'm sure they'll let the _guns_ do the talking."

"I understand your concerns, Orelis. I am sure practically all of you think this way…", she replied, but spoke up so everybody could hear her voice, "Nevertheless, my fellow crewmember, I have a will to fulfill. Honestly, I'd even do the transfer with the shuttle transport -"  


"No way, Hailynn."

"I thought so. My intentions remain the same: I wish to contact the kadeshi. I have no idea how they developed in terms of… diplomacy… but they already hinted that they are attempting to kill-on-sight. I wish not to bring our ship in danger. We can have…ngh… have this 'parley' occur over a safe distance. If they try to pull anything on us – the slightest blink-, then we are forced to leave. We will for sure faster be faster – and with the safe distance between us, we could circle around them and maintain the saferoute-course to receive full stellar navigation again. We shouldn't forget that it is likely they'll pull that gravity well field on us again - but with us already on the run – We should make it."

She held her breathing, luckily able to prevent further coughing.

Orelis took a deep breath. Hailynn already perceived that many, but foremost, he, were outright concerned of this somewhat suicidal attempt of diplomacy and perhaps the girl's trade-in. The hiigaran woman barely was able to suppress the feelings only thinking of Aira's possible final departure.

"You're the boss, Hailynn. We'll follow."

"I thank you all", Hailynn nodded in deep thankfulness, " Helm – Obs, plot a direct course to 'Kadesha's Ark'."

"Ma'am, according to the survey data, we are only approximately 500km with thousands of gas layers among the path", Quan explained slowly, "If I can interpret this correctly, there seems to be open space beyond that point. It is unlikely to be the edge of the star system's gas field, but… it… I don't know. Seems like some kind of 'alley'?"

"Open space, you say?", Fenna noted from the front of the bridge, "T-That would be great – At least we could see them this time."

"It's more of a 'low density' space, Fenna."

"We will know what we breach the last layer. Kenta, I wish you and your team to plot alternating courses to the exitpoints in order to regain full stellar navigation. Helmswoman?", Hailynn lastly called out.

"Y-Yes, Haily- commander, ma'am?"

"Set course to the designated waypoint, 'Kadesha's Ark', cruise flight one-point-three!"

"Aye!", Fenna confirmed and lifter her hand to adjust the autopilot interface. Before she pressed a key, the young pilot's hand hovered below the controls that was situated above her head. For some reason, she forced herself not to press any key. Her fingers curled away and were slowly upon the manual controls concerning the ship's guidance. She was afraid, but thoughtfully adjusted the controls. Noticing her actions, Orelis was surprised about her fulfilling the order manually, other than flipping any possible switch for laziness – She 

reacted before he could say a word about doing it manually. He smirked quietly.

"To all stations, maintain 'condition: red' and… and… deep cough "

Unfortunately, Hailynn spat more droplets of blood, but this time, it was visible to those who observed her.

"Gods, C-Commander?!", Velle shouted at her with great concern, not believing her eyes.  
Hailynn curled herself slightly as she threw her left arm among the right side of her torso.

"What the -?!", Orelis denoted loudly, "Frakk – Medical team to – no wait! This might be a biological emergency! She might have been infected by some bacteria from the taiidan mothership!"

"Bio-scanners would have detected something, sir!", one of the subordinate support operatives replied to him, "At least… something!"

"Don't talk crap! How are those scanners supposed to detect something it never _met_?! 'Condition:Bio' to all decks! Quarantine alert to -"

Hailynn frantically wove her left arm, "For- coughs Forfeit! Forfeit!"  
"But…!"  
"It's, it's just a flesh w-, I mean, it's just a physical injury…"  
"You still might have caught something! Look, you are coughing blood!"

Her left sleeve reviled more red droplets.

"Just the 'nanos' dying out on me…", she grasped her side tighter.  
"Commander Delixa", Captain Quenton spoke from her side, "You should never hide any health issues from your crew. Though I am not in command, I beg you to consult medical assistance immediately."

Velle suddenly budded into the conversation, "I knew something was going to happen sooner or later! She -"

"No – don't say it!", Hailynn subtly remarked aggressively to the amaji woman.

Velle, however, knew she needed to say something, "I was with the medics who treated her back then. He said that she is in desperate need for… nano-surgery… She snapped a rib, sir."  
"What you've been doing out there, Hailynn?", Orelis remarked as well, but shook his head, "Nevermind. Get yourself to sickbay at once, we cannot accept you dying like this!"

Hailynn shook her head, "Look – All I need is some replenishing _field treatments_- I am sorry, Orelis, Captain Sobaan… Velle… I can't leave now. We're _close_ to engaging contact with the kadeshi! And don't try removing me from command, Orelis, that would be bad timing…!"



"Alright, Alright!", her executive officer said, sounding as if he didn't want her to become all too excited, "Just calm down… calm down. Look, we'll call the nearest medic over here to treat you here and now… but please head to sickbay one this is all over, okay?"  
Hailynn gave a long sigh before she replied, "Fine."

Almost half an hour later…  
Her arm twitched several times and her skin was pale and cold. Hailynn received the treatment at a remote location just aside from the bridge's exit. Though receiving the treatment, the female medic gave her words of concern, "Ma'am, this treatment will only work for a few hours. I do not know for how long precisely, but you must know that due to the depleted nanobots in your system, they are more of a 'hindrance' in your blood stream."  
Unseen by the others, Hailynn sat upon the floor; both uniform jacket and vest open, revealing her undergarment so the medic could inspect the serious injury by the eye and medical equipment. The medic discovered the tense skin, marked deep red upon its surface. Slowly palpating with her finger upon and among the area, Hailynn frequently inhaled painfully with short breaths. Listening to the earplug as she held her thin but sophisticated gloved hand upon her chest, the medic examined her health through auscultation. Thankfully, but with slight concern, the damage was not too advanced… yet.

"Minor fluids in the lungs, this is not good at all. Don't breathe too deeply, alright? The previous nano treatment healed the injury a bit, but weren't able to fix everything – of course. These nanos should stop the minor internal bleeding for now, commander, but you are in _desperate_ need of surgery…"  
"Just give me whatever to keep me on my feet…"

The medic dropped her shoulders, fairly amazed of Hailynn's halfhearted reply, "You've got to take this seriously! Your snapped rib is like a small needle poking and scratching everything around it – I'm glad the gods spared your life by not having it poking your lungs – but it will if you keep on like this! Those painkillers won't work for long either. Hailynn, this injury is so lethal, I'd actually carry you to sickbay if I could!"

"Don't fret. I'll keep it gentle… somehow", Hailynn replied with a depressing voice.

"This is not the right time to be showing off some sort of heroism! You don't want to suffer what might happen if that thing hits your lungs… Ever 'drowned'?!"

"Man, why's _everybody_ trying to --"

Both suddenly heard a shriek of the kadeshi girl coming from above and ahead.

Fighting to stand up, Hailynn adjusted her undergarment before strapping the velcro-fastening straps of her vest. Aira must have discovered something. The substances she received were however affecting her. Stumbling back and forth, she fought trying to move ahead, even more trying to ignore the headache and the suppressed pain.  
"Mark my words, commander! You must meet with Dr. Jonan at once!"



Hailynn did not answer the woman. This was simply not the right time. Alas, the injured officer abandoned the medic and her concerns, forgetting most of the worries by the very moment she returned to the center of the bridge.

"What's this all about?"

"What you looking at me for?", Orelis snarled, "The girl's the one who screamed – man, she knows how to scare people…"

"Aira? Hey, Ai' – What… What is she- ?"

Everybody spotted the girl leaning upon the railing of the higher situated sensory station, both hands tightly clenched upon the bars. She was in great panic.

"'Kadesha's Ark'! No!", Aira's voice yelled throughout the entire bridge, "Please! Stop it! C-Can't you see?!". Aira cried more.  
"Aira! Calm down, we don't see a thing!", Orelis yelled back up to her.

"Lieutenant Commander Orelis", the former captain noted to him,

"We should not underestimate Aira's capabilities. Our conventional sensory is inferior to her perception."  
"Aye, captain. I understand that, but she always speaks in riddles."

Hailynn turned herself around to the main screen far ahead,  
"How far are we till 'breakthrough'?"

"Just a few more minutes, ma'am", the navigation operative announced.

Kenta focused one of her interfaces upon the designated course, allowing her to view the frequent pings reflecting upon each gas layer, "We still have 1014 gas layers to penetrate – but at this cruise speed, we will be through in notime!"

"Observatory array is also gaining on penetration efficiency, too", her brother added from the side, "Still too many layers for us to get a clear scan through that 'open space' though. Just need to be patient…"

"Hurry!", Aira shouted again but slurred kadeshi words right after.

"Hey, I know this is some sort of homecoming for you, young girl, but I honestly suggest we do it the safe way. Why the big rush?! What? Hey, speak hiigari or some language we understand!"

Aira's mind was far too affected by what she perceived at this very moment. Clearly, she 

seemed that she was speaking unintentionally in her mother tongue rather than an understandable language. Everybody knew that she had something important to say, but she kept on talking in the wrong language.

The amaji cruiser blazed ahead at blinding cruise speed, striking through each layer like a valiant arrow. Fenna nervously stared upon all screens as the ship cruised through them. There was something beyond the reach of the naked eye. As if matters were not already worse, they barely survived escaping the gravity crush of the taiidan mothership and now they wanted to meet those kadeshi maniacs. Her thoughts wandered in fear and anger at the same time. Several moments went by, when the screen ahead began to reveal an object situated many kilometers away.

"…Whoa… C-Contact", one of the few tactical operatives announced, "Seems like our arrays are slowly getting through: Picking up a large object followed by a field of other ships. Unable to determinate relative distance!"

"Confirmed", Quan added to his discovery, "Obs is detecting a high gravimetric field emitting from far ahead - Has to be a small moon or any other minor celestial body among that area of those ships."

"Weeeell, looks like this is it, Hailynn", Orelis noted to her.  
"Approximately 10 seconds away from breakthrough!", Fenna announced loudly.

Both Hailynn and Orelis moved back towards their seats.  
"Aira, get back to your seat!"

Aira immediately did as Orelis demanded, her face however remained frightened. Something was indeed going wrong… She felt it.

"Breakthrough!", Fenna yelled cheerfully, for a change, she sounded relieved being able to finally see further than a few meters.

Bursting through the last layer at lightning speed while tearing green gas and dust among it trail the 'Vjel-Amaj' finally bypassed the borderline into the low density region… allowing the naked eye to see far ahead…

"OH MY… GODS!", Fenna shouted in despair.

Practically everybody was shocked by the discovery that revealed itself among all screens and scanners. Stars and other yellow flashes frequently occurred far ahead. Both Hailynn and Orelis slammed their hands upon the sides of their seats. They have expected to see 'something' as Aira noted, but what truly was happening was more than overwhelming. It was more the fact that they were entering the edge of this event that made matters more than worrisome.



"You've got to be kidding me", Orelis commented slowly.

Hailynn slowly leaned back, her face left in deep concern as she observed the main screen ahead:  
'Kadesha's Ark', the so-called mothership of kadeshi, was so enormous, that it beat the taiidan mothership's already monstrous size… by far. Whilst having the common design of a typical kadeshi mothership, this vessel was more than a behemoth… A massive breathtaking monolithic titan slowly moving through a gigantic fleet of 'minor' kadeshi vessels, fighters and many more – However all of them were leaving a great trail of smoke and burning signatures. The entire crew witnessed its discovery with great astonishment…

"What… What is going on… out there?", Fenna slowly stuttered, "Fl-Flashes… Why are there so many flashes occurring?"

Even more flashes occurred…  
Without notice, one of the minor kadeshi needleships situated at the far rear of the fleet slowly breached, causing a brief white flash that blinded everybody's eyes for faint seconds. Many shouted by the sudden surprise.

"W-WHAT THE FRELL IS GOING ON HERE?!", Fenna shouted while opening her eyes after the blinding flash.

"Detecting high radiation levels emitting from the origin of the flash!", Kenta yelled, "It was a core breach - Definitely!"

"Unable to count the amount of existing needleships… but there are several of them surrounding that… that titanic thing!", Quan added to his sister's reporting.

"Damn right, that must be 'Kadesha's Ark'… but look at the SIZE of that vessel!", Orelis had seen much in his life, but never had he seen anything comparable – at least to the point where the taiidan mothership used to be the largest vessel, "But for frakk's sake: vessels don't just blow up like that…"

Suddenly upon Kenta's and Quan's screens, both were alerted by several circles appearing from random angles and all sides. Judging the radiation levels, they both looked at each other as they both became aware of that one specific signature… known to them very well.

"C-Commander! Mul-Multiple hyperjump signatures d-detected! More vessels are emerging from several vectors among the entire region!

"What?!", Orelis yelled and made his way to their station, soon to witness the more circles appearing, "Holy…!"  
"Jump emerging point at vector 2-17-20, our five o'clock high – Another at vector 5-5-13… Three more from three seperate vectors - no, seven... TWELVE...!", many other operatives announced to the occurring emerge points appearing from all sides. The bridge became so loud that all voices crossed each other, "Way too many of them coming in from all angles!"  
"But _who_ are they?!", the annoyed deck officer requested in anger.



The word slipped from both Kenta's and Aira's mouth… the dreadful word, "Vaygr…"

"…"

Aira's eyes widened once more, discovering further signatures among them, "…Taiidani… Turanic…"

"Them too?! What is this – some kind of frakking party?!"  
Shortly, Hailynn looked upwards towards Aira's station. All of the girl's concerns, her fears, were true!

Loosing concentration, Hailynn forced herself to calm down due to her breathing forcing more pain. The entire entourage of 'Kadesha's Ark' was swarmed among it. Random white beams emitted from the needleships and other minor vessels – even more explosions occurred that ironically seemed like a plethora of deadly fireworks.

Aira cried in despair as another dreadful explosion occurred upon the hull of 'Kadesha's Ark', soon followed by an additional explosion emitting from the other side below… Some devastatingly struck upon it… Many living souls vanished within an instant…

"What is it, Hailynn?!", Orelis desperately asked.

The hiigaran officer lifted herself while throwing her hand through her hair anxiously, but despite all her thought, the facts were clear, "The turanics – the taiidans… They must belong to the remaining survivors of the taiidan mothership's fleet that broke up! They **must** be cooperating with that frakking vaygr crusade! This is an all-out **ONSLAUGHT** upon the kadeshi fleet!"

Orelis turned his view ahead, noticing something else as well, "Hailynn… We've got another problem… We're surrounded – and are heading with cruise flight straight towards the kadeshi."

"Commander?! What are we to do?! Commander!", one of the operatives from the side shouted. More voices yelled at each other and among the area.

"What shall we do?!"

Hailynn fell into her seat again. This was not good at all…

**Chapter 18 - Veil Destiny** (part 1 of X)



Aira dared not to look upwards. The shear presence of the levitating divine behemoth frightened her soul with awe, crushing the least of her courage… making it barely able for her to breath. Yet, her mind perceived something beyond the deafening noise of explosions…  
Violent voices… Howling screams… Death cries…  
Songs…

**- Awestruck-**  
"Engage full tactical operation!", Hailynn's voice suddenly shouted throughout the bridge whilst swinging her hand to the side, "I want a complete overlay of the tactical situation, strikecraft units prepared, full aegis defense profile! EVERYTHING – Here and now!"

Alerting sounds blasted from all speakers and again throughout the entire ship signaling imminent danger and maximum alert status. All voices shouted loudly, many of them relaying commands and requests to every corner of the amaji cruiser.

Fenna shocked as she heard Hailynn shouting from behind, already intimidated by all of the action occurring many kilometers ahead – least to say how hard her heart already pounded with each second as the ship darted ahead towards the ongoing slaughtering amidst their path. While listening to all of the shouting, all of her screens filled itself with tactical data, revealing a lot more that simple navigation symbols and characters.

Staring upon the gauge values and the speed of cruiser blazing through lesser dense fields, it was clear that the cruiser still maintained its high cruise speed. This was not good at all. The young amaji was outright nervous; Sweaty palms, her fingers timidly curling upon the grip controls, hunger and fatigue were making all matters worse along with the tense anxiety.

Throughout the cause of the alert, the 'Vjel-Amaj' retracted the vulnerable nacelles while extracting smaller but specific thick pylons and other platforms, all fitted with defensive weaponry and electronic warfare. Engaging its defensive silhouette, the nimble cruiser's hull and armor shifted slightly, morphing and adapting its profile to an adequate protection. Soon, its armor subtly hardened as power allocated among the ship's skin. Predominantly, the aft segments deployed its longer and thinker wings from its sides than the bow, offering two vital point defense platforms with capabilities of suppressing dangers from any angle. Minor scars and dents were among all platforms. Albeit the fields of technology and weaponry, the 'Vjel-Amaj' was yet still a nimble cruiser striking ahead, a small vessel soon to enter the vast warzone that sparkled yellow and blue stars of flashes.

"Aegis Sphere going online!", one of the tactical operators announced, followed by others confirming further systems. Several screens above revealed mainframes and structural images of the cruiser's status and arcs. Layers and circles thickened as seconds went by. Scanning and alternating movements of rings spun around the targeting computers.

"Hull polarization completed! Ready to adapt, commander!"  
"Roger. We'll be needing them."

Hailynn's view staggered upwards and slightly to the left side of the bridge that resembled the main tactical overlay of the region and their vicinity. Indeed, the ship was entering the battle zone while having multiple groups of enemy vessels emerging from unpractical vectors, 

leaving all but one path of escape blocked. Crowds of dots existed practically everywhere upon the screening.  
The majority of the raging fleets were slowly moving towards a certain direction with every now and then having hundreds and thousands of dots moving upon their vicinity – Definitely resembling intensive fire fights between strikecrafts and other hostile units. She had seen much action in her past, but this was totally different.

_Desperate skirmishes everywhere… How are we to get through this… mess_?!

The female commander shook her head and smacked the side of her face gently, trying to stay focused. She needed to think from a different perspective, but alas, the psyche of being a long-time military officer, the logical side of her, sensed questions revealing themselves. There was a lot more going on about this situation. Combining all of the scarce sayings of Aira and Shodanii was not easy at all, which led her to the next question…

_Where are the kadeshi heading to_?

At this point, Hailynn's view shortly looked over to Captain Quenton Soban. She knew it; he was thinking the same. Though the captain was an expired-contract sobanni, he still remained upon the bridge, for which she was thankful for. He would for sure give vital information or suggestions at any time if appropriate – hence, it was all going to be up to her.

Her stomach quietly growled. Aside to the remaining pain, sweat, weariness and the disgusting feeling of feeling dirty with a subtle stench, yet another aggravating deficiency revealed itself: Hunger… but there was not time for consuming one of the nutrition rations now.

Using her right hand to operate the thin but sophisticated touch sensitive panels upon her side, the tactical sphere revealed basic information attained by the conventional scanners and surveillance. The entire region, though filled with low density of gas and countless patches of denser gas fields, was more of a corridor offering millions of cubic kilometers of space.

Figuratively, the region was an enormous tunnel with an unbelievable vast convoy of kadeshi vessels being pursued by the vaygr and the taiidan-turanic – and a _puny_ amaji cruiser wanting to cross through to the other side. One thing was for sure though – Time was running out. No way back…  
The ship was approaching the entire convoying armada from a low angle.  
She pinched her eyes together as she noticed something unusual, "Hey – Why are we only detecting the largest ships out there?! There is a lot more within all sectors."  
"I-I'm sorry, commander – but the concentration of field distorters is too great for us to gain detailed information!", Kenta stammered, "The efficiency of our o-observatory requires full support from sensory now! If we want to detect _everything_, we desperately need Aira's help!"

Already sighing, Orelis shook his head, "Should've put Kelsea up there from the start, Hailey… Think we should reconsider this right now."

"Negative, Orelis. We are going to need her."  
"Ah – c'mon Commander, don't get too stubborn with her at sensory! With all needs of respect to you two, but we're heading **straight** for trouble – Gods know those idiots out there 

will be detecting us any moment too soon! I'm for sure not going to let the girl fret around and keep us blinded!"

"I said, negative, Orelis. Maintain tactical command over the tactical station! Forfeit replacement, I _need_ her", she raised herself swiftly while ignored the pain that still sustained for some reason, "- and, for gods sake, more than _ever_…"  
At this very moment, the ship rumbled, somewhat feeling as if it was impacted by something causing it to capsize faintly.  
"Wha- ?!"  
"Expanding gravimetric shockwave, ma'am!", Quan noted to her, "Few more of them coming in – They are caused by core breaches!"

_Of course. A core breach_, Hailynn thought, recalling events of the past. She has felt this often long time ago.

Faint flashes illuminated the previously weakly lit bridge. More voices shouted as the ship rumbled again, but this time a lot more intensive than before.

"C-Can't we just circle around?!", one of the operative asked naively.  
"No way we're getting around _this_ armada! At least not undetected!", the navigation operative shouted from the side.  
"You bet", Orelis sighed.

"Entering outer sphere an artificial gravity well, right now!", Kenta added.  
"Damn – At this range?!"  
"Y-Yes, sir – It… It's immense!"  
"Aww man, this is madness…"

Aira yelled suddenly as something frightening happened yet again.  
"Gods, stay calm, Aira!", he shouted at the girl above with a stressed voice.

"Wait…!, Hailynn yelled as she noticed something unusual, "Those vaygr heavy assault and artillery units – They are attacking from the aft vector, aren't they?!"  
Hailynn ignored settling the single visor upon her head to focus upon the desired image accordingly to her observation. She was sure that this was not an imagination. Orelis, who repositioned himself at the right side of the bridge where the tactical stations were and confirmed her question the best he could, "Aye – Well, not sure, really, commander. Aside to the slaughtering going on all around the kadeshi, whatever those larger vaygr vessels are, they seem to be putting much of a barrage upon convoy from the rear mainly! "

"That still doesn't explain…"  
"What?"  
"What do you mean, commander?", another operative asked from the side with a confused voice.

"I've observed several **heavy** impacts occurring upon the kadeshi mothership – mark 'Kadesha's Ark' – that just busted upon its exterior hull… from a totally different angle-of-attack!"  


"We're not that blind, Hailynn – but I-I don't see a single thing accordingly to that observation! Nothing there from that frontal arc that could have caused such damage! Only massive firefights among strikecrafts and those… kadeshi pod units!"  
Other tactical operatives shook their heads in confusion. Glimpsing shortly upon their screens, the frontal arcs and other angles revealed dense gas formations and fields…

"H-Hailynn, we should -", Fenna's frail voice sounded from ahead.  
Her soft voice was overwhelmed by Hailynn's harsh remark, "- stay on the damn course, Fenna!"

Hailynn's head throbbed but her instincts were still alarming her, something else was going on.  
"I-I can sense something as well, my naji", Aira's voice echoed from above, "I-I can _sense_ – an individual … Something is beyond…"  
The weary hiigaran officer threw her view upon the kadeshi girl, who still sat upon the sensory station without being connected to it, "I… I knew it!"  
"What is it now, commander?!"

"Aira! Please! We need you… I need your help!"  
Aira's mystical eyes looked down upon her caretaker begging for attention.  
"Aira – There is an all-out war going on out there on your people! We… I want to help them, but I need your guidance and your help. Please…!"

Hailynn's voice desperately pleased Aira to finally maintain symbiosis with the sensory station, but the girl hesitated as her eyes met with the orbs. Her innermost fear was already preventing her from even laying a finger upon them. Once she would combine her mind with the ship, her psyche would become aware of the truth her soul had sought – but fear as well – for so long; the root of her existence.

"I know you felt it, Ai', there's something dreadfully happening upon 'Kadesha's Ark' and its entire fleet…"  
The girl slowly laid her hands upon her head, confused of what to do; afflicted by all that was happening within and beyond her frail mind. The penetrant noise and voices within echoed loudly.  
"Our eyes and conventional technology can't see what you can sense… Please, Aira, help us…"  
"N-Naji… P-Please… The eyes seeks death to b-bestow upon! Th-Their _songs_ … I fear _them_, my naji!"

"Aira, I feel the same. We are all scared…"  
The kadeshi girl wished to explain her innermost dread, but there was no way how she could clarify her thoughts. Her weak eyes observed the others among. Surprisingly for her, they were indeed frightened as well. Some did not seem so, but deep within, she did sense their concerns. Aira's mouth fell slightly as her eyes scanned the faces among her lower surroundings. Even the bravest had concerns. The ship vibrated and trembled again.  
"The outcome of this is a shroud like this star system – I know you fear the future, your future – and your people of 'Kadesha's Ark' who are likely to sense you. But there is a lot more to it, Aira. That quest - Your quest has not come to an end! Your people needs you! Your 

_finding_… Your knowledge…"

"…huh?..."  
Hailynn desperately tried to clear her throat as she spoke, "I'm pretty sure there are many more of your _kind_, Aira!"

Orelis quietly curled his fist and turned his eyes upon the tactical screens shortly. Least to say, he was getting nervous but angry at the same time. This was simply the wrong time for talking.  
"But the outcome of this situation may still in our hands, Aira! I know we can do something about it!"  
Aira slowly focused her view upon her beloved caretaker.  
"And I KNOW that there's a lot more out there! Beyond… Please, for the sake of Kadesha, guide us…"

The adolescent girl hesitated very long. She shivered so much that words could not leave her lips. Aira faltered somewhat so long that even Hailynn began to feel that Aira was simply far too frightened from all of this. Hailynn dropped her view to the floor, but she understood that the girl was scared…  
"It… It's okay, Aira…"

However, at the very moment Hailynn was about to order Kelsea to replace her…  
"…Commander… Look!", Kenta noted loudly.  
Gaining attention of everybody, all screens that dealt with sensory and tactical overlays suddenly were receiving highly detailed information. All images, colored characters, vector signifiers and many more sharpened to such extent that it even surprised Orelis; the scan resolutions were outright astonishing.

More and more things appeared in thousands upon the screen. The limited range slowly expanded to such extent that it was no longer limited by conventional means. Even more sounds were heard as the sound of harmony endorsed itself through the bridge.

Aira's consciousness united itself completely with the ship. She feared the worst…

For a change, Hailynn joyfully smiled as she discovered Aira's hands lying upon the orbs whilst being barely visible within the fields of holographic spheres that enveloped her station. At last, the kadeshi girl awoken from her absented consciousness, at least she thought of that.  
However, unseen by Hailynn, Aira quietly bit her lip…

But within an instant, Hailynn's view turned upon tactical overlay screen with a much concerned face. Her instinct was alerting her.  
"Gods… of Kharak…"

Focused and zoomed images revealed live and highly detailed survey and footage of the onslaught. Explosions, missiles, vessels, pods, crafts, gunfire, streams, barrages… Everything filled the screens wildly. Hulks of dead vessels of all kinds filled the region; many more were soon to follow. From faint to intense, stars and explosions occurred in matters of moments… 

and there was no end to it.  
However, this was not only what astounded Hailynn.

"There!", the injured commander shouted and pointed upon one of the minor screens.  
"Huh?!", an operative asked from the other side of the bridge, "- I don't see a thing…"  
Hailynn frequently darted her finger upon the specific screen that only revealed one of the many vast and dense gas fields, "I knew it! There's a goddamn signature right there! I've seen it once before!"

Orelis, who lowered himself next to the operatives of the tactical stations, turned his head, "Nothing there, co– Wait… whoa wait, what's that?! No no, over there on that arc", he pointed out from the side.  
Thanks to Aira's symbiosis, the entire readout of the region was focusing with each moment. Whilst not far from the kadeshi fleet, the designated gas cloud was voluminously expanded upon this region. Though kilometers away, Hailynn shook her head, not believing what she discovered.  
"Those… sons of a…! Scan the region I'm pointing out on! Hey, Aira - Glad please, focus yourself on that area!"

Without answer, the image sharpened. Soon, the dense brownish gas fields became transparent accordingly to Aira's ability of penetrating its body.  
"What the… FRAKK?!", Orelis yelled.

Hailynn dropped her arm.  
Everybody now saw what Hailynn had discovered:  
Another capital vessel, though much smaller than 'Kadesha's Ark', remained deeply concealed within the dense wake, circled by separate remote arrays and minor patrols. The image fluctuated intensively, but revealed enough… The capital vessel was merely a long colossal vessel with metallic veins fluxing power among its hull. It took a while until one of the operatives recognized its rough profile.

"The size… A cannon?!"  
"Not just any cannon, Orelis – A much more prominent… and devastating… piece of weaponry in the field of naval artillery", Hailynn explained slowly, "… Siege warfare – Mass catapult, railed artillery! A damn slingshot!", she shook her head slowly, "Capable of hyper-catapulting any massive anti-ship projectile… with deadly precision – and gods know of what caliber. Frell, the speed of the projectile is so fast that it is nearly impossible to backtrack its vector due to the irregular crater it would leave behind – Heh… a rough guess from which side, but that's it!"

"Frakk... That 'Ark' is only withstanding because it is a lot huger than the actual shot…"  
"True… but you've seen what had done to the needleships! And it damn sure is killing the 'Ark' with each direct hit!"  
"Is it… V-Vaygr?!", somebody else asked.  


"No. Unlikely. Hate to say it but even the vaygr have a sort of… honorable… codex. Every vaygr crusade prefers close combat with their _prey_ as a sign of their pride just to satisfy their frakking ego. They only use torpedoes and cruise missiles to a certain extent. I've been messing around with those idiots long enough to know that. One thing is for sure: This must belong to naval artillery arsenal of the taiidan-turanic collaborators… definitely of the turanics. They'd use anything at their disposal! Those vaygr must have struck some _deal_ with them – No idea how they managed to coop!"

"Oh my… are there more of those things out there?!"  
"Who knows – Only Aira would be able to find them, but since she said nothing, it is likely that this is the only one. Hopefully…"  
"All right, but what now?!"

"We can't let this happen, Orelis. We must do something about this! The vaygr are here for something! They're not just trying to claim this star system - They **want** all the cores and whatever technology awaits them once they've obliterated the kadeshi! You can bet those taiidans and turanics are just tallying along!"

"Whoa whoa, wait, Hailynn! You've got to be out of your mind! We're already one-versus-thousands! We might make it if we just blast through without much attention! The kadeshi are already a lot more powerful then what we heard in stories and history before! They've developed some heavy things – and I honestly don't want to learn more about it!"  
"I'm not letting this happen, Orelis! This is a serious situation that may develop to something worse…"

Orelis took a short glimpse upon proximity screens, "Don't have much time – but no, really, I don't get what you mean."  
She dropped her shoulders. Despite the ship approaching dangers, most of the crewmembers did not understand what she was referring to.  
To a point, Hailynn noticed that her thoughts of the situation were leading to something far out, perhaps far behind. It was easy to percept that she was also as anxious like others. Nonetheless, her long pause did reveal that she became uncertain and with doubts.

"Commander", the ex-captain's voice said from behind, "Continue with your thoughts. It is not illogical. Your concerns about the possible outcome by retreating without interfering are indeed… troublesome."

Though Hailynn calmed her voice, its tone sounded seriously, "Very well, sir. deep breath The aftermath – that's what is bugging me… By the time we get back to Amaj, it will take ages until anybody from the Hiigaran Navy would consider thinking about little _concern_ of the Kiith Amaj. Not that I have no trust about the Kiith Amaj – It is the other major kiithid that are likely to underestimate our findings. It is likely they'll just stack our reports or 

whatever till they feel like sending something. Damn bureaucrats The vaygr would be long gone or infest this system even more by the time we or any others get back anyhow - and gods know what they'll be doing with all of that captured technology! No, we need to stop them - somehow! We must support the kadeshi at all costs!"

"Sorry to interrupt, commander, but we have crossed what I believe is to be the last line to trouble! Entering the battle zone now!", the navigation operative shouted among the bridge.  
"W-We're coming in!", Fenna shouted as well.

"We'll make it… everybody… We'll make it… somehow", Hailynn slowly spoke, "I… I have a plan how we could do it…"  
"Well, we've not much of a choice, now do ww? You're the boss, Hailynn!", Orelis lastly noted and arranged his uniform, "If we blow up, which I'm very sure of, for sure not by the cause of mutiny!"  
Hailynn frowned.

**- The Master Plan -**

Hailynn focused her thoughts, trying to keep a clear mind while ignoring the noise among her and the slight pain that still existed.  
"I am sorry, my crew, I never expected this to come this far. This rescue operation has turned out to be a deadly undertaking and I know all of you have doubts if we will survive this – but I beg you all, please, stay focused and follow my command. We're on to something big and far beyond our expectation… maybe beyond our capabilities."

Despite the noise and the dangers they were approaching, the bridge went silent as the hiigaran commander spoke, "I know - We could try to circle our way out and head home, finally to get some sleep. I know how long many of you have gone over shifts just to keep the ship running – and frell, I could need a shower, something to eat and just… sleep. You all deserve a lot more than just a thanks.  
But – I can't leave – and knowing that our withdrawal without doing anything would lead to the worst, I simply can't. I just know it. I dare not to say that the vaygr refugees and their leader we know as 'Ray' are people we cannot trust, but my instinct knows how these vaygr prevail. Once the enemy vaygr finds a new hyperdrive core of power or any other source of tech', the Kiith Amaj will for sure be the first to be **crush** beneath its fist! All crusades will unite to engage ours and other kinds – and with the Hiigaran Empire already affected and decimated by last long war… I don't…"

Her words marked much to be concerned about. Clearly, she clarified how dangerous and serious this situation was. Her view slowly scanned upon the other crewmembers, noticing their groggy and weary appearances as well. Hailynn turned her view once more across the bridge, "Never had I been so proud of all of you. You have all proven yourselves as a crew 

any commanding officer could possess. I wish I could give anything in return for all of your trust. The Kiith Amaj is not a kiith full of cowards. We all have fears – but you've proven your courage. You all stand for freedom, the pride of the Kiith Amaj – and maybe this is what the kadeshi need to survive this onslaught."  
Hailynn paused, then spoke further, "The kadeshi armada is shelled by all the firefights, but taking a closer look, they seem to be retreating to a certain region. The armada itself is full of capital ships, but also of many seemingly non-combatant vessels divided in stages and groups throughout the corridor. We will try to make our breakthrough between those groups."

"But what makes you so sure we will just 'fly through'?!", Orelis asked. His question, while sounding harsh, did have sense.  
"Alas…", she then explained with a hasted tone of voice, "We still have some facts to our advantage, though – and that is how my plan will be based upon: We possess vital information the kadeshi doesn't know or can't figure out.  
mmhh Our strikecraft units could try to take on that artillery railgun unit while we support the kadeshi fleet the best we can with our defensive capabilities! With those powering conduits on the outside, I'm sure our strikecrafts can perform a surgical strike right on it! We're not a battleship, but I trust the 'Vjel-Amaj' – It is more flexible and robust than any vessel in advanced defensive aspects. Taking that in account with our speed and signature radius, we're much of a harder-to-hit target – but to do so, Fenna, you need to follow all of my commands!"  
She took a deep breath. For a short moment, she lost her balance sense – thank goodness that she was already sitting.

"One more thing: Both, Aira and Shodanii, have told of us about the religious reasons of the kadeshi travelling more than 37.000 light years across the galaxy to this system – Certainly an unexpected coincidence how we could have bumped into them – There is a lot more about that story that we don't understand truly – but one thing is clear. 'Kadesha's Ark' is also the key to end the unrest in the Garden of Kadesh that has been prevailing and sacrificing millions of lives for all these years. Thus, I've made a decision…"

"That would be, ma'am?", a logistics officer quietly asked.  
"Aira **must** communicate with them… I wish to hail them. We must clarify them that we are here to help and that we are not their enemy!"  
"… What?!", Orelis denoted loudly. Even Aira shocked quietly as she heard her name, despite all of the distraction she was sensing among.  
She turned her view over towards him, "Aira has the truth of evidence - Of what the kadeshi have been searching for so many… generations. I'll cut it short – it might be our only key of survival."  
He hesitated… Not wasting another second, Hailynn immediately began to secure herself upon her seat.  
"To all stations, standby for combat engagement!"



Part 2 of X

Only three minutes later…  
"Shit…shit…shiiiitshiitshitshit…!", the inexperienced amaji helmswomen cursed several times as crowds of explosions and shreds of debris rained upon the path of the ship. Streams of projectiles, beams and micro-missiles sprayed everywhere. Despite the ship not being the main target, the rest of the crew surely thought of the opposite as it shook and rumbled merely expressing an ongoing earthquake.  
By far, the onslaught intimidated so intensively that it was hard for her to really decide which experience she suffered through this system was worse; ironically, this was only the outskirts of the conflict.

Fenna anxiously threw her view over every arc of the screens and interfaces during the blazing noise of alerting sounds and symbols revealing dangers from all sides. Symbols and lines of dangers drew their schemes upon the path, making this flight through the raging battle more of a desperate and daunting undertaking.

The strange matt white looking pods of the evasive kadeshi were everywhere, merely batches and hundreds swarms of them in swarms battling wild groups of sturdier crafts recognized as the turanics and the much more disciplined squadrons of the militaristic taiidani and gator-shaped vaygr strikecrafts. These were the most tense and wildest firefights she had ever seen in her life. All this time through she wanted to stay away from danger, but having no control over her fate, her life just seemed to intentionally stumble into the next one.

Although the approach of the 'Vjel-Amaj' was penetrating one of the many outer perimeters of the war zone and the proceeding armada from below, Fenna's impression of the flight felt more as if the ship was diving straight upon it – a much common optical illusion in space flight.  
Feeling an unexpected bashing impact emitting from the side, she and the crew felt moderate forces pulling the ship to the right, before she managed to compensate and bring it back on course. Many voices yelled wildly throughout the bridge.

"R-Report!", Hailynn demanded while the ship rumbled and shook back and forth.  
"Impact on our starboard, ma'am! Structural and other integrities reveal no damage! Maintenance crew report no internal damages either - It was an unknown strikecraft that just bashed against the side of our rear thrusters, ma'am!"  
"Confirmed – Just a scratch, Commander!"  
"That does it! I'm not going to let something happen to those thrusters – Retract and bulk the fusion thrusters! Helmswoman, end cruise flight from now on and engage high maneuvering profile II! Rely on gravity control for maneuvering and propulsion and continue using our momentum of flight the best you can! Notify all crewmembers that we will be undergoing a very low state of inertial nullifying – and trust me, this won't be comfortable!"



"Roger! Underway!", the engineer replied back to her and proceeded with her orders. All conventional thrusters disengaged and retracted themselves towards the hull into safety.  
"Better get ready for intensive changes in gravity, everybody! Expect heavy influences by inertia!", she announced loudly, whilst feeling worried if she was going to withstand it. Entering the state of low gravity was soon to affect the whole crew. She could only hope for herself that she would not end up being affected by nausea.

"Still around 100 klicks away from the inner perimeter of the kadeshi armada and almost through this ring of the loose battle zone – Bashin' through the place like an unwanted guest, Hailynn!", Orelis reported to her whilst holding himself upon one of the bars, "We've got another ring just ahead, might be able to bypass it without much trouble hopefully – and some wave of flowing objects – They aren't ships but -!"  
"We're under heavy indirect fire, but our armor integrity is unaffected by the attacks! It's repelling and withstanding everything so far!", somebody else added from the crew, "We should worry more about torpedoes or similar weaponry - I still advise not to stay too long around, Commander!"

"Guess they're too busy trying to kill each other! All units are ignoring us more or less", another one yelled back, trying to overtone the noisy voices speaking and yelling throughout the anxiety of the bridge crew. More flashes and explosions illuminated the weakly lit bridge shortly.

"Good thing the 'Vjel-Amaj' is highly resistant…!", Kenta notified with worried tone.  
"Heh, what, Chief Astronomer?! Against gunfire? Heat and beam weaponry?!", the grim deck officer asked from the other side.  
"N-No, Commander Orelis… hazardous radiation…"

"You jokin' me?! There's always some radiation emitting somehow in battles like these, Kenta. I bet those turanics are using any sort of nuclear missiles, too!"  
"True, the turanics are using high nuclear weaponry, both missiles and mass driver projectiles – however that is not all, sir! Certain unidentified corvette units of the kadeshi are emitting short-lived fields of dangerously high radiation that have rendered a great deal of turanic enemy units out of commission… I can only guess the pilots of those affected crafts… j-just… "  
Orelis made a long pause and rubbed his forehead, "… Frakk… Never thought the kadeshi that type of… death ray!"

"I've witnessed other field-emitting units that seemed to shock the turanic units. Upon contact, some of them are rendered inactive for a short period of time; others simply stay dead in space until the kadeshi obliterate them. I assume the turanics are not shielded alike our strikecrafts and vessel. However, the taiidans and vaygr are not showing any sign of weaknesses, sir!"

"Of course… EMP…", he sighed and frowned, "But with all those mass of strikecrafts they're dumping here, you can bet that they're using the turanics as cannon fodder – and it's working…"

"Wait – Helmswoman…!", one of the few tactical operators voice shouted from the dark, "Multiple massive objects coming in from our three o'clock arc – collision course! Careful!"  
"What are you talkin' -?!", Fenna shouted back at him, "…about?...", but startled as her ears 

suddenly recognized the much more serious sound amidst all of the tones buzzing from all sides. Her ears were too distracted by the happenings that the deafening noises overlaid the most important one. Identifying the sound and the lines of warning upon the screens, it was the dreadful alert of an imminent danger approaching, if not soon physically confronting the ship's path – a matter much to be worried about.

"Gods! H-HANG ON!", the pilot yelled during her attempt of engaging evasive maneuvering. Slamming her right foot upon a certain pedal whilst pulling her left arm as hard as she could, the ship spun shortly to its right, followed by an awkward upwards movement that altered the course of the amaji vessel.  
The entire crew of the ship felt immersive forces pulling and pushing them around. Luckily, her wild attempt succeeded as the object left its trail through the gas, randomly receiving indirect fire.

"Frakking dren, she meant it…!", Orelis cursed as he lifted himself up from the floor, learning his lesson of securing himself better the next time.  
"W-What was that?!", she asked, trying to retain the ship back to a stable flight other than its currently awkward spinning.  
"That was what I was about to warn you all about, there are thousands of debris waves floating alongside the entire armada and the battle zones!"

"Yeah – just what we need – more obstacles!", he mumbled angrily.  
Indeed, the hulk that barely bypassed the ship was one of many ruptured remains that surely belonged to one of the many needleships and other enemy vessels that were eradicated very long ago. Within short moments, the sensorial sensitivity was altered to detected further hazardous collision objects within proximity range.  
During the intensive flight, Packard shortly leaned over to Kelsea who frequently spoke upon several loose sets microphones, collar transmitters and headsets due to the undermanned station,

"Ma'am – Ma'am...", he called to her, somewhat trying to gain her attention without being noticed by the others.  
" Hold on - all units, please stand by Pack', what is it – I'm a bit busy right now? So - no, I said, please stand by!"  
"Kelsea, this is important!"  
"Not right now, Pack', hands full here ! – I need to –", she wove a dismissing hand but he ignored her demand.  
"- had _her_ on the comm just a sec ago._She_ is coming to the bridge, Kelsea – Thought you wanted to know about it – and she sounded damn angry. She'll need a while to get through the pressure lockdown - but honestly, ma'am, you better _confess_ to the commanders before things get worse…"  
Sweat pearls ran down from the side of her face. Kelsea's somewhat heavy-loaded shoulders dropped, causing one of the few shoulder-mounted communication units to slip upon her console. That dreaded woman was on her way - This meant trouble… However, before she able to make another thought, voices kept requesting her presence for relaying internal information. Keeping all stations and segments of the ship well informed was indeed a tough task to maintain with only two other communication operatives at her disposal.  


Fenna again frequently cursed, things were getting even worse – and there was no sign of its end. Hailynn suddenly woke up. Unnoticed by others, nobody noticed her sudden doze, another short-lived blackout.  
Just as the ship bypassed the first battle zone, a single explosion occurred from behind as Fenna suddenly noticed three small objects floating next to the ship at the corner of her eyes.

"What the -?!", she slurred.  
Discovering slightly damaged objects floating from the side of the 'Vjel-Amaj', all objects held a parallel course.  
"Kadeshi pods!", Orelis shouted, "Bet they detected us at last and they're up for a fight – Gunnery, proximity targeting -!"  
"No!", Hailynn shouted, "Wait…! Do not fire, I repeat, do not fire upon them!"

_Aira's eyes staggered as she stared upon the small pods. Although frightened by their appearances, it was merely the souls that her psyche sensed that were influenced by the hollowing dreadful symphony she never heard before, a dreadful symphony of death... Songs of death and destruction. Frantically trying to keep her ears from listening, Aira slightly fell affected to its hollows, causing much confusion and havoc within her mind. Memories of agony stung her mind but did not render her fallen to its misleading influence. All souls of the kadeshi seemed to be led by the songs that evoked devastating potentials among all the kadeshi warriors.  
However, echoes of faint cries were heard amidst the distant 'Ark'…  
Unimaginable, but Aira sensed distant secluded minds sorrowing… Minds of unknown, and yet the few seemed so… familiar…  
But just as she managed to clear piece of mind, a somewhat threatening feeling bewildered her psyche._

The pods did not react but continued their drift aside of the amaji cruiser.

"Commander, are you going to forfeit all of my orders all day long?! I'm your tactical officer and second-in-command right now, y'know…"  
"Sorry, Orelis, but we cannot allow them to consider us as hostile. I know it is likely they'll be shooting at us any moment but I do feel that they are not like the usual kadeshi we heard from all of those stories and history! I just know it!"  
"sigh"  
"Ensign, maintain course. Just stay on course and don't move a muscle!"

Fenna remained silent as she watched the three threatening pods slowly hovering closer, stopping at pinpoints and around the ship, remarkably precise at such high velocities. What were they doing?  
"Well, what's this now?!", somebody else nervously asked.  
"Observation. They are watching us… _Sniffing_. It's likely they'll notice we're not alike the vaygr or their allied fiends due to our alternating energy signatures."

_Aira suddenly noticed a difference. A change in the song occurred…_  


Suddenly and one by one, each flipped upwards and flew away, leaving the amaji cruiser behind. All three blasted away so fast, that it seemed as if they were in a hurry to retreat elsewhere.

"What was _that_ all about?", Quan asked while scratching the side of his head.  
"Maybe we smell bad after all", Orelis grumbled.  
"W-We must leave this direction… **AT ONCE**!", Aira's delicate voice cried.  
"Aw, not again – C'mon, Aira, give us a hint this time!"

"Commanders, please view the tactical overlay. There is a noticeable change throughout certain regions of the battle zones.", Captain Quenton slowly remarked, "There are several large rows of kadeshi units revealing open paths for several kadeshi capital vessels. I sense incoming dangers."  
Both commanders looked upwards upon the screen, quickly noticing that many of the dots representing batches of kadeshi pods were indeed leaving way and path needleships.

"Detecting high neutrino readings from separate distant kadeshi vessel! Particles building up upon all of their bows!", Quan suddenly reported as his far reaching sensitive array readings surveyed serious emissions.  
"I'll-BE-DAMNED", Orelis cursed, this time a lot more loudly than before.  
"Ensign – Break course - HARD STARBOARD. HURRY!", Hailynn followed up in despair.  
"Wha- you just said stay-on-course -?!"  
"STAT, DAMN IT!"

Responding without further questioning, the confused ensign forced her hands to jam specific grip controls to the right side, causing the automated supporting systems to alter the course respectively. Ignoring warning sounds of irregular gravity fields, Fenna altered certain gravity harnessers upon the side of the ship in order to drastically support the sudden change of course.  
Lastly, Fenna frantically struck her foot upon the pedals again to intensify the trajectory even more. While the clumsy and much amateur attempt was noticed by everybody through the inertial impact, it still caused the ship to change its course away.

"H-Hang tight everybody! nnghhhh!", the amaji pilot barely tried to say as the force of inertia pulled them all.

Separate thick and long beams flashed across all screens within a single moment, illuminated the bridge and randomly appeared elsewhere throughout the entire armada seen upon the mains screens, before the power of the entire bridge and the ship fluctuated. Static discharges and disruptions occurred throughout the ship that scared many of the refugees residing deep within in safety. Alas, sounds of rebooting operating systems recovered from the discharging occurrences.

"W…Wow…!", somebody declared with a slight notion of shock.  
Single strains of Hailynn's hair were spiked upwards along with the weak prickles felt upon her entire body, "D-Damn… That was close…"  


"Can somebody tell me what the FRAKK that was about now?!", the amaji pilot shouted towards the back.  
"I-It was a single ion beam devoted to this sector of the battle zone…", an operative explained from the side," Its surrounding ionic and neutrino field was so powerful that it temporarily knocked out our systems. I assume the intensity caused ship's main computer to deactivate all systems to avoid sustaining damage through outer surges… Though the ship is able to withstand such _attack_, I fear we would have suffer greatly – and we were not even the main target!"  
"Commander – look!"

Upon the tactical overlay screens that slowly recovered from the sudden electronic discharges, all revealed minor lines of chasms throughout selected areas of the battle zone. Just by observing, it was clear that the kadeshi struck a surprise attack upon their attackers by discharging short-lived but long range ion beams that devastated a great deal among its path.  
Hailynn needed to calm down but still was too anxious, "R-Retain last course – This is not over!"

"Close call…"  
"Now THAT's artillery…", another operative ironically remarked.  
"Not funny when we're the ones between two armadas trying to blow each other up! Those kadeshi needleships fired upon several arcs beyond the 70km ring!", Orelis shouted from the side, "We were just barely lucky that we weren't enveloped within! We shouldn't be here… Oh – and they _missed_ us… - Nothing more that beats the crap out of me than an armada of space pilgrims throwing blast waves!", Orelis once again rubbed his slightly bearded chin, for which he never had the chance to get rid of it ever since the second day within this dreadful system.

"I don't even think the vaygr or their allies are impressed by the counterattack", Kenta noted, "I am still detecting random hyperjump emerge points of support frigates dispatching more enemy squadrons! The last stage of the convoy is also being decimated as we speak…"  
"No hope for them, nothing we can do about them!"

Hailynn shortly curled herself together.  
_Not now… not now… Just stick together, Hailynn_, she quietly thought to herself.

Alas, the weary commander slapped herself once more, the least she could do to stay focused.

"Ensign, avoid the next danger zone by flying between the sectors I will transfer to your interface", Orelis demanded to Fenna, "We're not going to be blown away by coincidence anyhow! And, for frakk's sake: All eyes aware on any developments throughout the war zone! If you see a flock of kadeshi flying away, get us the frakk out of there too!"  
"…R-Right…"  
"O-One more thing to Orelis' command", Hailynn's voice stammered, "Try to attain a safe parallel course to the waves of debris – but while you are doing so, I wish to contact the kadeshi, here and now!"

Several operatives looked at her with troubled faces.  


"Kelsea – I want you to establish an all-out broadcast over all possible frequencies! I'm sure they are capable of receiving our transmission!"

The overwhelmed communication operative forced herself to listen to her commander, "I am hold on, hold on! only detecting random transmissions between the kadeshi mothership and its combat units! I doubt it'll work, ma'am but… - There is something else I'd like to say-"

Unfortunately, Kelsea's hesitant appeal was interrupted as Hailynn continued, "I'm sure they will, operator, and Aira will for sure gain their attention if I should fail!"

"'xcuse my interfering, Hailynn, - sorry to ask again - but what makes you sure they will understand our language?", her second-in-command questioned.  
"I know, I know, Orelis… According to the hiigaran knowledge base, the kadeshi in history were capable of understanding galactic common. Though I assume this might have changed, we still have one person who is able to speak in kadeshi!"  
"long pauseRight…"

"Ma… My naji?", the frail voice appealed.  
"A-Aira, yes?"  
"I f-feel great dangers – songs of death eradicating sense… sensual thoughts among the minds of the warriors. T-Their songs… My soul… I fear"

"Aira, they must heed our plea! I'm counting on you… I believe in you and the kadeshi!"  
"I may have done much wrong in my life, but I never was so sure about this, Aira!"

"But naji, please – I wish you to know t-that I know where 'Kadesha's Sorrow' still trails… I dare not to believe it, but I sense I am capable of returning to it…"  
"You mean that comet, Aira?!", Orelis asked with a surprised face.  
"Yes…"

"What? But how?"  
"S-Shodanii sensed my presence deep within 'Kadesha's Sorrow'… I can _feel_ its presence from afar – as if my soul were still… there..."

"I beg pardon my interference, but I think I've discovered the cause for the kadeshi not able to detect the enemy rail catapult!", Kenta explained as she kept her view upon the screens among her, "Sensors indicate a subtle field that is distorting the certain type of sensory the kadeshi are using, virtually rendering them **invisible** to the kadeshi.  
I do not know if they have noticed this, but it is unlikely they ever will!"  
"Something to add to that, ma'am", Quan followed after the end of her sister's speech, "At least twelve taiidani capital ships have emerge from hyperspace accompanied with a small fleet of single railed ion beam frigates. According to your previous explanation and their signatures, they seem to be a smaller form of _artillery_!"

"Are you sure, Quan", Kenta asked, "I haven't detected any -"

"There's an insanely high concentration of energy among those capital vessels, Kenta – I can't really confirm their use, but I'm sure they're some sort of artillery!"  
"Just what we need - more artillery! They're pushing in all they've got, Hailynn!", Orelis ironically yelled at her.  


"Gods…", Hailynn quietly said to herself, "So many enemies… Their numbers are greater than I expected…"  
"One more thing!", Quan added, "I think I found out where the kadeshi armada is heading for."  
"On screen!", Orelis demanded anxiously.

The tactical overlay shortly zoomed away from their vicinity and revealed detailed information of a massive entity that was only another fifty kilometers away. However, it was the large field of synchronic moving objects. Though not completely detailed, the attained data was enough for Quan to come up with speculations:

"A much more massive celestial object, range 52.9 kilometers away, seems to be the destination, commander. The main structure of this entity seems to be some sort of… ring… large and massive enough for the kadeshi titan mothership to fit through – if you ask me. Detecting faint energy readings - but that is all I can detect, the distortion is too great."

"You know what…", Hailynn said slowly, "I think you are right – and just by guessing, you can bet that is some sort of wormhole generator. Just a rough guess, but already seeing something like that used by the Bentusi, I'm sure that must be some sort of 'Phase Gate'… A jump portal leading to… I don't know…"

"Yeah, but where – How…?", one of the subordinates asked.  
"I don't know. If I combine all that we know about their journey and their cause, they are probably forced to leave Rahji's … I mean, the M'randara Star System due to failing their quest of finding 'Kadesha's Tear' – Y'know, the comet."

"I don't quite get it, ma'am…"  
"I know… I know. But this is developing a lot more serious than what I expected! They probably have no choice but to return! And by return, I mean 'back to the Garden of Kadesh'!"  
"Wha- what?! Wait, are you serious, Hailynn?!", Orelis interrupted, "You mean that THAT GATE is powerful enough to send them gods-know hundreds of thousands of LIGHTYEARS back to where they came from?! Sorry, but that sounds illogical – Don't tell me they flew the whole way… JUST to jumpgate back?! Why didn't they jump the whole damn distance with that gate from the first place?!"

"Its structure seems to fit to the body of the titan mothership. I guess they had to bring it here first – It's something we can't understand, Orelis, but I assume, yes, they are going to return back by using the Phase Gate. They've come a long way in order to end the unrest and the ongoing genocide. The people of the kadesh are being persecuted throughout the 'Gardens'. They want freedom and salvation… They can't just drop on some planet and hope to survive. That is not their culture. They need that _embrace_…"  
"I hope we are doing the right thing, Commander."

Hailynn hesitated as the ship motioned back and forth along with unusual swings, "Nonetheless, my greatest worry now is that that gate will leave the path open for all the 

Vaygr and their goddamn idiots to intrude the other side of the galaxy! I may be exaggerating, I get that what you say, but with an entire vaygr crusade and its allies here, they will for sure venture through! I don't care how those damn taiidan imperialist or the turanics will do, but I know that the vaygr WILL survive! "

"As silly as it may sound, but if that should happen, will we follow?", Orelis asked; for a change , in a calmer voice.  
"I don't think we would survive. Negative, our true priority if the kadeshi leave is to return home… We are already at maximum risk…"

"Commander Delixa, communication array is set to your request over your comm unit!", Kelsea announced lastly, "Please be aware, ma'am, that all – even our enemies – will acquire the broadcast as well!"

The ship vibrated and shook as it penetrated the outskirts of the second perimeter of a wild skirmishing battle. The low dense gas that filled the entire region frequently was stirred by the explosions and the millions of motions that flew throughout its mist.

Hailynn leaned back and closed her eyes, barely able to clear a piece of her mind amidst her surroundings of yelling voices and alerting noises. With her back lying upon the comfortable pillowing seat, her strained eyes seemed thankful for this pause. Bleak thoughts ran through her mind within an instant.

_Was this the right decision?_

Before the hiigaran woman was able to answer, the tense motions of the ship accidently caused by Fenna awoken her from her doze. Surprisingly, Hailynn did not notice that she fell into another microsleep again.

"Very well – T-This is it."  
Reaching over to her left shoulder, Hailynn extracted the handheld transmitter from her communication unit and set its frequency upon the commline designated by Kelsea. Despite all of her hopes, that dreadful feeling of concern reappeared, somewhat affecting her with even more doubts of survival… Were they going to even heed her hail?

"Everybody, pray and hope this will work out", she lastly said and took a deep breath:  
""To the kadeshi mothership - This is Commander Hailynn Delixa, of the Kiith Amaji Star Cruiser 'Vjel-Amaj' in sovereign service of the Hiigaran Empire, hailing the titan vessel known as 'Kadesha's Ark'… Please, respond! Over…""  
A long pause…

Hailynn repeated her broadcast as she threw a much expecting gaze to Kelsea, hoping the oppressed kadeshi would respond. Unfortunately, the female operative shook her head while listening to thousands of erratic chatter between the kadeshi warriors and the many vaygr, turanic and taiidan combat fleets.



Stopping her speech, Hailynn slowly looked to the floor. They were not responding. Either Orelis was true about them not able to understand or…  
The hiigaran officer suddenly threw a glance upwards towards Aira's station.

_Of course…_

She was speaking with the mind of a simple officer, but not by the heart of how a kadeshi would speak…

""'Kadesha's Ark', please. I have great fear of your… future and your kind. Please, heed my endeavors of speaking with you. The sole divinity of Kadesha, my brethren and our future are in great danger… I am aware of what your… soul… thinks of us, but heed my words - please!"", others, even Fenna glimpsed over the edge of her large seat, ""My brethren and I do not belong to the vermin that are determined to end your existence and the… song that exists for Kadesha and Rahji!  
No. I, Hailynn Delixa and my brethren of the Kiith Amaj, endeavor to seek enduring truce and peace with the souls of Kadesh and to reveal the _truth_ for what you have been seeking for all these years long through the dreadful strains of the galaxy – that will lead to salvation and the end of the turmoil that is definitely still plaguing Kadesha's Gardens for generations.  
I beseech you, heed my call. I have learned of your story, your journey across the galaxy for the _truth_ of Rahji's existence and much more. 'Kadesha's Ark', we have found the truth for the divinity's lost sorrow! I speak of the truth: We have found… 'Kadesha's Tear'…""

Hailynn slowly released herself from the seat as she noticed that Fenna managed to bypass the second ring of battle and enter the field of debris that ironically offered time of peace as the amaji cruiser dashed through it.

However, just as they thought they would have some time of peace, skirmishes behind one of the giant hulks revealed themselves once more. Forcing herself to stay on course, Fenna again panicked and caused the ship to dodge obstacles and dangers awkwardly. Streams of beams and projectiles filled all arcs again.

""What this valiant s-soul speaks of is true, my sole divinity…"", Aira's soft voice echoed amidst the bridge through the speakers.  
Hailynn's eyes widened as she heard Aira's voice. It was different, unlike her true voice through speech but more as if she was speaking by thought. Fair but far away explosions illuminated the bridge yet again.  
""Death surrounds us all, souls of 'Kadesha's Ark'. Please… Heed of what this valiant soul, my love, my naji, speaks... From days to years have I prayed to the sungods of ever crossing destiny with souls of our divinity again…"", the kadeshi girl's voice continued, ""I praise the sunfathers for the quest they have given me. My soul fears divinity… Yet, my soul was not only embraced by Rahji… but also by 'Kadesha's Sorrow' of her last endeavor for reaching her lost love, Rahji – The truth is proven! My beloved divinity, it is true! Rahji exists… our belief is true! My naji blessed my soul with the 'Tear of Kadesha'!""

""Those who attack the sole divinity are heretics, the so-called 'Vaygr', 'Turans' and 'Taiidans'; They all seek to end the existence of all to what you truly believe!"", Hailynn lastly added, ""We, the Kiith Amaj, may not be kadeshi, but we will obey and respect your beliefs! We are aware that we may be seen as vermin as well, but I assure you, our intentions 

are to prevail your existence and that of 'Kadesha'! Souls of 'Kadesha's Ark', the heretics are using death-bringing schemes invisible for the kadeshi eye to percept! Please, allow us to help you…""

Matters of seconds passed by. Kelsea again shook her head, denying that she was not receiving any signal…

**EMULATOR! WHO ARE YOU…!**  
Aira's mind was suddenly penetrated by a deep male voice that spoke in a much familiar kadeshi language. The outright powerful voice crushed her frail mind…

Kelsea suddenly threw her hand upwards, signaling Hailynn that she was receiving something. Fighting to do many things at once, the stressed operator still managed to pinpoint the incoming transmission.

"Communication contact! Pinpointed a… beta wave transmission link…"  
"Well, that's pretty 'low-tech'…", Packard noted from the side.

""We are the Kadesh. How… How can this be? A soul of our own… amidst the ship of the _unclean_? How… can… this.. be…?"", a deep and garbled voice announced over the bridge's speakers.

At last, 'they' finally answered. Surprisingly, the onslaught did not seem to affect the voice in any way – and yet, the voice so deep and majestic, that even Hailynn was concerned about saying the right words.

"Sorry, ma'am, the wave is far too distorted and alienated for our systems to adapt to…"  
"Well…they do speak galactic common after all", Orelis quietly said, "Wait-a-minute, did he just say unclean?!"

""The soul you speak of is 'Aira', 'Kadesha's Ark', our guiding unbound mind. This ship is blessed by Aira's soul and will for the sake of Kadesha and Rahji."", Hailynn nervously answered, ""Please, we -""  
""**ENOUGH**!"", the voice suddenly replied in a very much aggravated tone, ""Thou unclean have **desecrated** Rahji's Sanctuary! How **DARE** thee defile our beloved! Infidels WILL be cleansed… Thee WILL be cleansed! ""  
""No, wait! Please! We are not the enemy! We are NOT the defilers!"", Hailynn desperately shouted into her transmitter but was instantly interrupted.

""**SILENCE**, unclean being! How dare you endeavor to desecrate our belief with all of your LIES! All of thee souls are all equally WORTHLESS! How can thee have an _emulator_ of 

Kadesha amidst its defiling hands?! This is IMPOSTEROUS! Thou WILL be cleansed as the infidels will be, by the will of Kadesha! _Emulator_, fear not – The unclean will pay for such deed… by **cleanse**. _Emulator_, thee soul will be cleansed of the unclean through the grasp of Rahji's Embrace!""  
""- but -!""  
""ALL… THEE… WILL… PAY!"", the strong willed voice blared.

"Frakking… son of a bitch… He's not listening! They're taking it all wrong!", Orelis cursed loudly.  
""'Kadesha's Ark'. With all needs of respect, our intentions are not to defile Rahji's -!""  
""You will all DIE… Rahji's Embrace will… cleanse you all…""

"Aira", Hailynn frantically shouted up at her, "Please – Help us!"  
Unfortunately, the girl suddenly sobbed and cried. Her mind was affected by a mental sting that attacked her frail psyche, ""S-Stop it! Pl-ease STOP it! I beg you shriek"", the kadeshi girl shrieked in despair.  
"Wha- What is happening with her?!", Orelis called out.  
"Damn it, he must be_messing_ up her mind!", Hailynn shouted and grabbed her transmitter tightly, ""Stop attacking her at once! She is NOT the enemy!""  
"You mean… - Psychological… Psi attack?! No way!"

Velle anxiously tried to detach herself in order to help the poor girl.

""Thee must SILENCE! WE WILL CLEANSE THIS _EMULATOR_!""

The ironic term of cleanse and purifying one's mind was soon to be understood as a parapsychological or telepathic attack upon psychic beings… Being rather the only true psychic being onboard the 'Vjel-Amaj', Aira's vulnerable mind was outright lambasted by the songs of death and other crushing influences that continued to penetrate and scramble her mind. Outside, her hands curled upon her head, causing her to end symbiosis with the ship, lastly leading to loss of several vital sensorial uplinks. Begging for mercy in her kadeshi language, the mind-flayed girl stumbled among the floor of the small platform of the sensory station.

"Gods, please – Somebody help her!", Kenta desperately cried until she spotted Velle desperately climbing up the side to the girl.  
""GODDAMN STOP IT!"", Hailynn suddenly yelled in such hatred that practically all but the captain were scared by, ""You goddamn frakker! We are NOT THE ENEMY! We've come a long way and gone through a lot to come this far! STOP ATTACK HER! SHE IS INNOCENT! WHAT SHE SAYS IS THE TRUTH! We HAVE what you have been searching for since generations! WE ARE HERE TO END THE PLIGHT, YOU STUBBORN 

IDIOT! STOP ATTACKING HER!""

Aira shrieked even louder... It was clear that whoever that person was, he intensified the pain.

""DIE, UNCLEAN! YOU ALL WILL BE CLEANSED!""  
Her outraged voice thundered even louder and much more violent than before – It became clear that her outrage caused the other _personality_ of Hailynn to come alive as the following moments of hateful arguments being shouted among all bandwidths to place, ""… UNCLEAN?! FOR FRAKK'S SAKE! WE ARE ON YOUR SIDE! You goddamn FRAKKER, nobody – not even 'Kadesha's Ark' will SURVIVE if you _CLEANSE_ us! All right, fine, FINE! GO AHEAD –KILL US – KILL US ALL – BUT I LISTEN TO WHAT I SAY, YOU GODDAMN SON-OF-A-BITCH! HEED MY CALL! BY THE TIME YOU'VE KILLED US, THE VAYGR WILL KILL ALL MOST OF YOUR FLEET AND MUCH OF 'KADESHA'S ARK'! AND YOU WANNA KNOW WHY?!""

"Commander Delixa – Please calm down", the captain demanded, but he seemed to be ignored.  
""**SILENCE, UNCLEAN**! WE WILL NOT -!""  
""DON'T TRY PULLING THAT CRAP ON ME, FOOL! YOU CAN'T EVEN DETECT FROM WHERE THOSE INFIDELS ARE ATTACKING YOU FROM! WHY DON'T YOU LET US SUPPORT YOU! FRELL, LET US HELP AND **THEN** KILL US AFTERWARDS, BUT FOR THE LOVE of ALL GODS OF KHARAK - STOP KILLING AIRA!""

Continuous beams of energy suddenly struck upon the hull the amaji cruiser, leaving great trails of burnt segments upon the polarized armor.

"C-Commander, we are being attacked by… by kadeshi frigates firing multiple high intensity ion beams from three separate arcs!"  
The entire ship rumbled but also began to suffer from the intensive attacks, "The beams are interfering with all power grids! Fluctuations detected from all sides! Failures and malfunctions are occurring throughout all segments of the armor shielding!"  
"Maintain heat shielding and compensation the best you can!", Orelis yelled at the others.  
Viewing the temperature readings, the intensity upon the segments was several times higher than what platings of all kinds would have to resist and withstand during atmospheric reentries.

Following the speech, the kadeshi swarm pods suddenly began to attack the single cruiser that tried to bypass the second line of battle.  
"Orelis, sir! Injury reports are coming in – The beams are generating heat throughout the outer decks! If these attacks continue along with the hull polarization failing, a great deal of the crew might die to extensive heat exposure!"  


Aira's cries were failing…  
Velle held her up but had not the slightest idea what she could do. Aira's limbs swung around and uncontrollably.

""VERY WELL… very well… nggghh"", Hailynn suddenly fell to her knees, her hand upon her chest, but she did not stop talking though desperately trying to breath, ""GO…! Go… ahead… Let the frakking infidels enter the Garden of Kadesh… Let them crush you and truly…pants d-desecrate and defile… whatever! But make sure you've spoken all prayers with the sungods and long pause…your conscience, Kadeshi fool! Make sure that you are killing the ONLY mind that knows where 'Kadesha's Tear' can be found – The only being that POSSESSES the 'Tear of Kadesha'! Ha, let me ask you this, fool – You haven't been blessed by 'Kadesha's Tear', have you?! Do you know where 'Kadesha's Tear' can be found?! No… You don't know where, DO YOU?!""

""We… have… sought for generations for… Rahji's Embrace for Kadesha's… Sorr- !""  
""She is the true and only being who knows where to find it! But, hey, you don't know where it is – You don't have the tear - DO YOU?!""  
""We are not to receive Rahji's gifted -""

""I don't believe it! This is outrageous! You want to KILL the only being that knows where to find the _truth_?! The only being that has wished and devoted her life to end the genocide and turmoil at the Garden of Kadesh – For the greater good?! Go ahead, fool… pants Seal our fate –Go ahead, seal our fate by prancing about with your extreme justice…""

""Naji… I will accept… this f-fate"", the frail girl slurred, ""M-My death amidst Rahji's Embrace will at least bring her divine sorrow to his h-heart…""

"What are you saying, Aira!", Velle yelled at the girl in her arms, "Stay with us! Fight against it!"  
""I-I must accept my f-fate… Please… My _family_…The 'Vjel-Amaj' must flea…""

"No! Please, Aira! I forbid you to sacrifice yourself for such madness!", the hiigaran officer yelled at her.  
""I cannot… d-deny… my dear… naji"", the adolescent being's voice spoke upon Velle's lap, ""My s-soul…""

""We… No… How is this… possible?! This _emulator_… It… has the 'Tear of Kadesha'?! No… How… is… this…?!"", the deep voice sounded confused, as if its cause were being discussed.  
Aira's mental flay started to fade away. As it stopped, Velle signaled Hailynn that she was 

alive – thankfully, the girl still breathed flatly.

"Hailynn – You're getting through to that punk!", Orelis notified quietly from her side as her helped her upon her seat, "I think he dug up something in the girls head or something!"

""Our Belief - Is this… possible?! How… can… this… _emulator_ be the… _**emissary**_…""  
"_Emissary_? Of frakking what?!", Orelis cursed again from the side.

Hailynn raised her view to Aira high above. Despite her rage, the least of Hailynn's rational personality was shocked but also sorrowed for the girl who was not accepted by her own people. The girl's lips still moved, silently praying as she held both Kadesha's Eye and Tear within her hands… so tightly that a red line slowly slid from her hand. She still believed in the truth…  
The mad hiigaran officer slammed her fist upon the plated floor…

This was not it. Suddenly, Hailynn was tossed to the side by the force of inertia causing its physics upon her body. Unfortunately, Fenna warned everybody too late that the one of the vital gravity stabilization units failed.

"Failure of life support systems on the outer decks – Gods, good thing we evacuated those decks a long time ago!" , Zann reported, "but as the ensign said, maneuvering support unit failures are spreading drastically along with the raising temperature emitting from the beams! She can take a frell of a beating – but I don't know for how long by this rate!"

""Aira IS the true emissary of- "", Hailynn paused in absence – nobody knew what she was thinking about, ""Souls of Kadesha! You got it all wrong! Heed! Heed this call! She is the only one who can **end** the turmoil in the Garden of Kadesh! She is the only who can stop the carnage and lead the people of Kadesh to Kadesha's sorrowing Tear and lastly Rahji's sacred Embrace!""  
"Wha- What is she talking about?", an operative asked from far behind, but Orelis angrily wove his hand demanding him to keep his mouth shut.

""How… can… UNCLEAN… know of our belief – I dare not to heed thee…?!""

"We're a lot cleaner than you think, idiot…", the grim officer snarled quietly.

Unexpectedly, a soothing chime suddenly filled Aira's psyche, a warm _song_ quieting the deafening noise and the penetrating death attempting to end her existence. During this cause, Velle discovered Aira's eyes moving actively again.  
_So… calm… so familiar…_  


""But my soul does… I heed your song… unknown emulator…"", another unknown female but also garbled voice spoke among the commline. To the surprise of everybody, both beam and pod attacks began to seize.

""A bewildered emulator… speaks to thee unclean and contaminated emulator… How dare you -""  
""This young _emulator_… Her song… differs from ours, yet I sense the true soul of a being alike thy! This being is of true kadeshi blood, our blood flows the for the sake of Kadesh…"", the female emulator intervened.  
""DECEIT!""  
""Thy must understand..."", the garbled female voice slowly replied, ""My soul cannot… abide… the cleanse brought upon an emulator of my blood… I believe that the words of these… heathens… are true.""

A long pause went by as the cruiser continued its approach to the main core of the kadeshi armada, the titanic mothership. Despite a long debate taking place between the two enigmatic voices, the onslaught of the vaygr and their allies continued.  
""… Thy will bring death upon all of us… Emulator. My soul will… punish thee… if deceitful… The synod of her divinity will… await… and heed...""

"I don't believe it…", Orelis slowly said, "Hailynn… I think you made it…"  
""Heathens… You so-called… Delixa of the Amaj… What…. are your intentions…?""

Hailynn calmed slowly down, her senses were returning – unfortunately with pain throbbing within her chest, ""Divine souls of 'Kadesha's Ark'… I th-thank you – but beg you desperately to heed my plea one more time. Please, allow us to help you… There is a devastating hulk of the true _infidels_ invisible for your sensors to detect - and much more of their long range death-bringers are wrecking havoc already upon your fleet! If 'Kadesha's Ark' continues upon this path, the divinity may be destroyed unless we can help! For the sake of your people, you must not allow the vaygr to attain this portal to your world! Please, souls of her divinity, allow truce between the Kiith Amaj and the Kadesh to prevail…""

Both voices hesitated for long while – but to the surprise of the bridge crew, the voices of 'Kadesha's Ark' concurred, accepting Hailynn's plea and words finally.

"Hailynn – Just… wow… I think this is a historical event… You've just established first contact with the kadeshi in the history of Kiith Amaj – if not for the entire Hiigaran Empire", Kenta slowly noted.  
"But we're not out of this yet, sister… We're up for some big trouble now…"  
"Hoo boy…", Orelis added.



Hailynn wiped the sweat from her forehead. Disorientated, Hailynn fell upon her seat again. Her hand nervously trembled, her mind was slightly disordered. That desperate urge and recent blackout…It happened again… Her other self must have returned quite a while ago. Judging the views of the operatives and the officers upon her, it was clear that her split-personality raged before… However, this was not the time for this.

"Well, Hailynn… Looks like we have only have the _infidels_ in our way…", Orelis gradually spoke, "What do we do now?".  
"What are we going to do? I'll tell you what we are going to do…", she followed up after a short pause, "We are going to proceed with what I have previously planned: We are going to have our strikecraft units bomb that frakking turanic slingshot! Kelsea, inform the strikecraft pilots and Ray that the time has come! Establish an uplink so I can brief them… "

"N-No need for that, C-Co-Commander Delixa", Kelsea replied with a awkward intimidated tone in her voice, "I have been forwarding all events and occurrences since our escape from the taiidan m-mothership. Our pilots should be well informed of the entire situation I-I apologize for -"  
"What? No, that was good thinking, Kelsea – No apologies necessary. Good job…", the grim commander at the tactical station said to her, "Saving us some time."

"Alright, everybody, listen up", Hailynn announced to the others, "This is going to be a tough fight. While we dispatch our strikecrafts, we are going to support the kadeshi non-combatant convoy the best we can! I don't know how much we can deal with but they will for sure need our help! Let's prove them what we are capable of! "

At the same time, all tactical overlays and other sensorial systems were reactivated with detailed information. Looking upwards, it seemed as if Aira retained symbiosis with the ship's interface. It was remarkable but frightening at the same time; the girl's face revealed trace of severe distress and suffering.

"Uh oh…", Packard whispered to Kelsea, "_she_'s here…!"  
Kelsea threw a frightened view as her eyes spotted the aggravated s'jet scientist entering the bridge from far behind.  
Noticing the approach of the s'jeti, Orelis turned around with a disgusted glare, "What the – Pethera?! Who the frakk invited you?!"



Part 3 of X

Child… Your soul is pure… What you speak of is the _truth_… You have it… The Tear of our beloved Kadesha…

Despite echoing cries of death and despair amidst the region, Aira became aware of several senses, myriad of them existing throughout the entire kadeshi mothership and the pursued fleet beyond the enigmatic mind that focus upon her. Surprised souls and curious minds, all of them invisibly surrounded Aira's somewhat dissimilar consciousness that allured them.  
Voices whispered amidst the divinity of Kadesha. Questioning echoes were heard everywhere… then confusions. They all seemed to question her existence. To this point, Aira suddenly noticed that her mind seem to echo a song as well – a barely sensible and weak chime. Was she truly unbound? But who are these _emulators_ this superior voice speaks of? They seemed to see her as a so-called emissary according to the belief they shared. She neither met them personally nor knew of their existence – and yet they felt so familiar... so well trusted.

The Tear of Kadesha… Your soul was embraced by her divinity, sole emulator… My soul thanks the sunfathers – The emissary… EXISTS…

Hearing the call of the superior emulator, Aira began to shiver as the 'Vjel-Amaj' approached the colossus that was still far away. The voice, whilst soothing the pain caused upon the girl's mind, was truly majestic.

**- The Clashpoint -**

Slowly spinning and rotating into the innumerable fields of rushing debris and carcasses of destructed vessels, the 'Vjel-Amaj' raced along the waves while attaining a tight parallel course within, gliding closely within the stream as the vicious battles among all arcs took their places. Though shocking for the pilot to see so many corpses, she fought against her frights. Hundreds and thousands of pieces knocked upon the hull of the cruiser while it aligned itself into the metallic mangled ribs of the hulk, luckily taking this valuable opportunity of slipping past further harsh skirmishes by the covering stream. Nonetheless, random misguided rockets and missiles still struck upon their surrounding area.

Using her left hand, Fenna operated one of the smaller consoles that dealt with the ship's secondary field enhancers, causing the ventral units to emit a negating field to attract the ship to the surface.  
"Ha! Settled her down! I made it, Hailynn, I've -!", Fenna reported somewhat joyfully but was merely ignored as she heard sudden arguments from behind. Unable to say much, she kept quiet within the dark bridge. All screens flickered as random explosion emitted high radiations upon the vicinity of the ship. Most the outer conversations seized. The long haired s'jeti scientist threw her staggering view upon every operative before ending her turn upon the hiigaran woman she hated so much.

"Bad timing, Pethera, bad timing…", the hiigaran officer growled in a very much disgruntled manner, "We're in a bit of trouble at the moment! I would really appreciate you leaving the 

bridge – right now!"

"Don't you DARE tell me what to do, Delixa! I don't need to respond to **any** of your blunt demands!"

"Frakk's sake, woman – Don't screw around now!", Orelis intervened while slamming his fist on the side of the safety bar, "Can't you see that we are busy?!".

Strangely, Pethera's lips stuttered at first as she heard Orelis' striking words before another voice interrupted the discussion, "Lieutenant Commander Orelis, I do demand you to respect the 'Sren. Bear the kiith laws in mind.", Captain Soban noted in a neutral tone; neutral but still warning.

Regarding his words, Orelis – as of being a highly ranked yet simple officer of the general military authority - indeed insulted a kiithid 'Sren, a persona in high spiritual ranking of the kiithid supremacy. Insulting such being would definitely backfire with great punishment if such were once to be reported to a kiith council or order. Noticing this, he became aware that this could likely lead to what is definitely going to happen to Hailynn once they return to Amaji Prime… that is, if they will survive… His pessimism remained skeptical.

Surprisingly, Hailynn did not seem to care anyhow, "You god damn annoying bitch, get off the bridge!"  
The scientist replied fast, "I'm not going ANYWHERE until I know what is going on – and I want some EXPLANATION, now! I've demanded clearly to all of you to inform me of anything happening upon this ship or whatever!"

"This is not _your_ ship!"

"You ought to reconsider that one - Your life is in **my** hands, Delixa, I can and will crush it any time… And don't you dare say 'this is not my ship' – I've done a _lot_ for this vessel, a lot of what you don't even know about."  
Hailynn stopped herself from answering, for Pethera's mocking comment did mean the truth. At the same moment, the ship was slightly struck by a nearby explosion caused by an indirect hit upon the adjacent destructed carcass.

"I beg you to remain calm and delay this argument – Both of you, Commander Delixa and Dr. Pethera. The situation still remains crucial", the ex-captain calmly noted again, "We are in still danger."

"Captain, I demand to be immediately informed of what is going on!", the s'jeti woman demanded harshly, mindlessly ignoring his words, "Why are we in space and not upon the imperial taiidan mothership – Why was I informed of this by Asad only by coincidence?!"  
"I am no longer in service and command, my 'sren."

Other operatives looked upon each others with great confusion.  
"You – Yes, YOU!", she pointed out upon a random victim in her sight, "You there, operative, where is the taiidan mothership?!"  


The man fretfully looked back at her and shook his hands,

"W-We are somewhere a-at the edge of the system, 'Sren of S'Jet...! Battles are going on between kadeshi and -"

"I see that myself, imbecile! But WHERE is the taiidan mothership?! Why are we surrounded by those… those… kadeshi zealots and these vaygr! Why have I heard of this happening only by coincidence?!"

"You don't know shit - for a change - Pethera?", Hailynn quietly snitched to her, "Well – now _that_ is something new… Hey, no, now stop fussing with my crew. Why don't you just interrogate Asad and the damn rest of your corporate members – and just get the frakk off!"

"My entire subordinating members and he were **not** informed at all!"

"Oh – Nobody told you and you heard nothing? C'mon, I gave an all-out announcement before we escaped that place with our lives, Pethera – oh and before it blew up!"

"Eh… WHAT?!"  
"You didn't hear or notice anything? I ordered – no, actually, I initiated the self-destruction sequences myself on behalf and dignity of Shodanii – not to forget the armada of turanics and taiidans suddenly returning to it! The destruction was caused by a gravity well that crushed everything in some hundred or thousand kilometer radius or whatever. We wouldn't be standing here arguing with our lives if the crew and I had not blown that vessel and order our retreat. We had no choice."  
The s'jeti scientist dropped her shoulders, not believing what she just heard.

"Are you telling me… No – How… HOW could you do THAT?!", Pethera yelled at her, "YOU DESTROYED… WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN VALUABLE TO… THE…-?!".

"Frakk the talking, Pethera – I don't give a crap about it! I don't care how many valuable things could have been brought to the kiith. Oh wait, not the amaji, of course – How could I forget the power greedy kiithid… Be happy with what you plundered already. Ha – Too bad I missed Asad whining about it, heh-heh…"

It was simple for everybody around the two to sense the approaching argue, foremost by Hailynn's provoking comments… but one operative could not bear to let this happen.

"Both of you, STOP arguing!", Kelsea yelled at both women as she darted herself upwards. Many loose headsets along with thin-corded transceivers fell upon the floor and the console,

"Please stop! It was my fault! Neither Commander Delixa nor anybody else had to do with it, Dr.S'jet…!"

"Hey, now what is _this_ all about. Come on, speak, Kelsea", now Orelis was curious of this.



Everybody but Fenna starred upon the operative who seemed to take the blame, "Commanders, Doctor S'Jet – It is my fault! I-I… I'm sorry, Commander Delixa, but I didn't fulfill your command… completely, back then."

"Command? Which one?"

"The one regarding the public announcement to the entire ship. I… I-I did not set it for the _entire_ crew… Well, yes, I did but…"

"- but -?", Hailynn rose an eyebrow, but did not reveal a single emotion.

"I limited the announced to all but areas where the mining cooperatives were, ma'am."

"Why have you done that – Speak, puny woman?!", Pethera intervened viciously, "So you diverted the announcement away from the mining corperation and my unit - intentionally?!"

"Y-Yes… When Commander Delixa said that she would demand an immediate return to amaji space instead of saving those of Aira's kind if one were to reply, I became… desperate."

"Desperate of what?! I should -!"

"Pethera, shut the frakk up and let her talk!"

"- Hailynn's speech of Aira's fate did affect me… It… It was the cause for my deed. But it is not she to take the blame for what I have done! I was aware th-that the mining crew would not risk their time in saving the kadeshi anyhow. I simply had to do something about it. There were denying replies from those corporate people who heard the announcement elsewhere, but I suppressed their signals to the point that made them unable to reach any of us. I… I don't really know why I did it … I just…"

Without any further comment, Pethera suddenly approached Kelsea. Each step somewhat stomped so hard that one could sense the incoming trouble it was bringing with it. Pushing Packard aside, Pethera's hand struck ahead. Being taller than the younger low-ranked communication operative, the s'jeti woman grabbed Kelsea's throat at the base of the collar, "You IDIOT! Do you know that you've caused the destruction of all what could have been **valuable** to the entire Hiigaran Empire?! You let it happen! I'd give Delixa all the blame, but it could have been avoided! I can't believe that YOU let this happen!"

Kelsea panicked as she was frequently pushed and grabbed by the throat. The s'jeti woman assaulted the young amaji with great hatred as she yelled at her, blaming her for the cause of blocking all transmissions and notifications from destroying the taiidan mothership. All happened so fast that others were incapable of foreseeing sudden Pethera's attack. Many harassment were thrown until the sudden moment a person dared to react… Feeling a packing tackle from behind, Pethera's arms released the woman's neck before she was aggressively thrown aside to the floor.  


Hailynn barely caught her balance and once again did the same worst thing she did long before – aiming her gun straight at a persona of high kiithidial ranking, "THAT'S IT! DON'T YOU **EVER** TOUCH ANY OF MY CREWMEMBERS AGAIN – BITCH!"

"Whoa! WHOA! Hey hey, Hailynn – Hey, careful! Calm down!", Orelis intervened by anxiously putting himself between the downed s'jeti and her gunpoint, "Hey – hey, I know we all have our gripes about Pethera and those miners, I know that, but don't do anything that you'd regret afterwards! Marr, help Kelsea Don't shoot, Hailynn! - most importantly - don't shoot me!"

"To frell with it, move - Orelis! This is something I wouldn't regret at all! I'm as good as dead anyhow once we return! As-Good-As-DEAD! I should do us all a favor…!"

"Commander DELIXA, stop at once!", now the captain was aware that Hailynn meant it truly.

"C-Commanders! The Vaygr! Picking up a transmission broadcast waving across all broadbands!", Packard yelled during the tense situation.  
"Probably talking to the kadeshi…", the operative aside of him guessed.  
"Not quite – This guy is calling for _us_!"

"Hang on, Packard…", slowly moving his hand upon Hailynn's handgun, Orelis cautiously pushed her aim down and gently forced her to holster it. It would have been smarter to disarm her or simply ask her for the handgun, but he did not want to test his usual bad luck, "We're all still alive, Hailynn, we're all still alive, thanks to you. I will throw myself in front of the _fire_ when - or if- we get back… but let's not seal your fate."

"_It's already sealed, Orelis – I don't think I will ever see the amaji sun again_", she whispered quietly to him.

"Stay alive, Hailynn, I know you can do it…", he said back to her, silently replying back to her.  
Hailynn rubbed her face, "This is all getting too much for me…", the tension was written all over her.

"I won't let you down if we survive all of this crap, Hailynn. I have connections to kiithid advocates… but we must worry about that later. Look. Take a seat and try to gain some rest, okay? We both will master this. I know we can do it together."

Luckily, she quietly nodded and slowly limped her way back upon the main seat. Though Orelis' words tried to give her some hope, doubts surfaced. Her worries of surviving this striving pain were already much of an issue. His view followed the sole commanding officer and friend who walked to back to her seat with great pain. Clearly, her bruised face and messed up appearance disturbed him with even greater concerns. Hailynn had been awake for way too long, was assaulted by a turanic soldier in hand-to-hand combat… and survived.  


However, she was still a kushan being. She was still carrying seriously untreated wounds that were only patched. Orelis lastly dropped his view to the plated floor, for she would definitely deny his plea for her to report to sickbay due to her usual brave but stubborn mind and the need of her authority and presence.

Pethera angered view still remained upon the cold floor, until she spotted the hand of Orelis reaching in front of her.  
"We need to drop our fights. We're all on the same side – and I don't care about differences right now. This is simply not the right time for personal feuds, everybody! We shouldn't be trying to kill our own operatives… or 'Srens – Frell, leave that for those goddamn vaygr", he said as he helped the s'jeti scientist up to her feet again. Though Orelis noticed that she bleeding her lip, he did not respond to it, "Alright, Packard, acknowledge the transmission uplink! I-"

"No. I will talk to them, Commander Orelis", Hailynn interfered,

"Open the line."

"W-Wilco, sir – ma'am. Hailing the… vaygr…"  
Orelis lastly nodded and shortly turned his view over to previously assaulted communication operative.

"You okay, Kelsea?"  
The panicked subordinate was still under shock.

"Calm down – Look, I know this is a bit harsh, but we need you to continue diverting information to our strikecraft pilots. Try to catch your breath and remain at your station. Please do so."  
Clearly, the young amaji woman trembled as she slowly sat down upon her seat. Her uniform was messed up and it took her much time to pick the fallen communication units up due to her hesitant movements.

"Uplink established, I advise to use your comm-unit, ma'am!"  
He rubbed his face. All this stress and action was happening too suddenly – and the same woman who was seriously going to shoot Pethera down was the same who was going to negotiate with the true dominating enemy…

Breathing flatly, Hailynn began to speak into her handheld transceiver, "Vaygr. This is Hailynn Delixa, Commander of the Kiith Amaji Cruiser 'Vjel-Amaj'. I don't care _what_ you want, but we are listening. Make your point, vaygr."

Hailynn's diplomacy regarding vaygr was not surprising.  
After a short while, the enemy responded. Everybody kept silent as they listened to the garbled deep voice of a vaygr man speaking over the communication line, ""… So we meet again... Hiigaran _prey_""

"sigh What? Get on with it!", she leaned back upon her seat.



""The comet, hiigaran. We have **hunted** the prey… The prey escaped... This hunt is not over.""

The least of his words were frightening and dreadful for all amajis who listened to his words, easily noticeable by their reactions.

"Damn it… Not just any Vaygr of the Scay'Gra crusade… but it had to be that frakking flagship as well… Just great…", Orelis noted from the side, quietly yet angry.

The vaygr voice spoke slow and clearly, ""So you have found a way to combine forces with these… fanatics? We do not care. There is no way you can hide this time, hiigarans. We will end our **hunt**, prey. We will kill all of you. We have killed all those who attempted to defect several moon cycles ago… and soon, death of space will crush your bodies.""

"He must have intercepted our transmissions", another communication operative mentioned quietly.  
"Yeah, for sure. No wonder by using such a lowtech communication method like what the kadeshi have…", Packard whispered back to him.

"Oh really – Mister… Vaygr Warlord – or whoever you are? True, we don't have our real fleet here right now – but you think you can really achieve much having those imperial taiidans and those idiotic turans on your side?!"

""They are serving the greater, hiigaran weakling. More of them will come to crush all of you and these fanatics. That is the will of Lord Makaan.""  
Hailynn's voice rose to a much faster and aggressive speech,

"Get back to reality, vaygr! Makaan is dead! Live with it, fool – We pretty much accepted his death! And you are wrong about killing the first vaygr who accepted his death and decided to defect! We rescued the ones you tried to kill off with A.I. guided torpedo frigates! Heed my words, vaygr! Vaygr hunters showing off how great they are and considered sending A.I. units for the 'hunt'?! I am not lying, vaygr! We saved both hiigarans and the vaygr who raised their voice for asylum. Call it the way you like, but that attempt with those A.I. frigates was not '_vaygr_' of you!"

Strangely for all listeners, it seemed as if the vaygr made a long pause.  
"Uhm, well…", one operative said from the other side, "Was that it?"  
"Communication uplink is still being upheld", Packard noted quietly back to him, "I don't know what is - "

Suddenly, a loud and deadly cracking sound echoed in the much garbled quality over the bridge's speakers, scaring all but the captain by its sudden occurrence. Hailynn remained startled for a long time as she held her handheld transceiver in front of her mouth. Judging the sound, it seemed as if the vaygr warlord just executed one of his closer subordinates – 

definitely for the failure of killing the defecting vaygr and the dishonorable dispatch of A.I. frigates for the hunt. Hailynn pinched her eyes slightly. He must have left the elimination of Ray's people for one of his officers back then. The intervention of the 'Vjel-Amaj' truly changed much in this somewhat raveled conflict… but not only that, she thought, there was a lot more to all of this.

""I assure you, weak blood, I will not bear any failure **this time**"", the vaygr warlord continued.

"Good point and optimism, vaygr… You might as well could shoot yourself, while you are at it – just to make sure of your success."  
Orelis' eyebrow rose. Her provoking smack-talk was like that of a typically rude manaan.

""My crusade will **NOT** fail, higaaran! The Scay'Gra and its brothering allies will crush all of **YOU**!""  
Her insults seemed to break his keen attitude.  
Hailynn slowly crossed her arms as she replied, "Ah yes. Sure. Speaking your 'brothering allies'. There seems to be a missing assault segment in this battle. You must also be awaiting some armada to emerge from that … say… derelict taiidan mothership, aren't you? I think you know what I mean. Looks like you are not informed: We fled and destroyed the mothership – and that damn taiidan-turanic fleet with it! Not bad for 'weak blood', huh? Bet all of you and your great crusade is still waiting for the ultimate to show up, huh?! Ironic snarl I advise you to execute your neighboring officer. Until then, shut up – Delixa, over and out!"

Signaling a direct beheading gesture upon her neck with her hand to Packard who sat at the right side of the darkened bridge, the communication uplink was interrupted at once – Not even giving the vaygr any chance of reply. Another long pause went by until Orelis turned himself over to Hailynn.  
"That was… impressive, Hailynn, honestly! Are you sure it was a good idea to make him angry? I'm sure he's pissed as frell…"

Hailynn quietly rubbed her bruised face, gently touching the numb spots upon it, "Not going to let him and his idiots win this but we have to forget him for now, Orelis. We have to do something about… that frakking slingshot", she replied to him.  
"There were many points to worry about, Commander, but what about that jump gate? You said that something about -"  
"I'll try to get back to that, but let's stick to the previous objective", suddenly, she noticed the ship being much calmer than before, "Ensign, are we out of danger or why is it so _quiet_?!"

"Managed to park us somewhere on top of this one dead kadeshi hulk, Hailynn - Commander! Took a while for me to align the ship but hey I got it – I got it! Ha, I'm getting used to -", Fenna bragged anxiously but calmed herself shortly after, "Err, we are currently hooked and riding on one of these many destructed hulk things at high speed appropriate to 'cruise flight I' towards that area you wanted us to go to – We're pretty much safe and sound - should manage to slip pass all the fighting…"



Surprisingly, it seemed as if Hailynn already forgot that Pethera stood right next to Orelis, who bumped into him as the ship expressed certain trembles. Despite the ship latched upon the ruptured hulk, the ship rocked and rumbled as other things randomly knocked or weakly exploded upon it.

"Well, I'll be damned, a sweetspot. Might as well quiet things down until we are through."

"Nothing much we can really do either", Quan noted from the other side of the darkened bridge, "There are far too many skirmishes and battles out there. I really advise to stay where we are. Concealment should be the best we should do."

"Whatever. We shouldn't take it for granted", the female commander replied to him, "Another railed mass just busted upon 'Kadesha's Ark'… Look, I want those strikecraft pilots ready for launch. Once we reach that specific safe perimeter at the upcoming zone for us to dispatch them with some of our heavy tactical armaments, we are going to do our best to take that damn thing down."

"Understood, Commander", Quan replied to her and he spoke, the main tactical overview revealed further data, "While we are at it, I think I should give a short rundown on our current position and course: We're slipping right past all those outer-fielding battles and are leaving them behind right now. According to the intensity fields, we are almost through to the inner sphere of the artificial gravity well. The inner sphere seems to be a moving dead zone of space and debris of the ended conflicts and losses, a wave of them around 50 to 70km wide, between the ongoing battles and those ships that require much protection. That said, we will be close to the convoying fleet of the kadeshi – but we will have a hard time trying to get out, that is for sure. Sis'?"

"Right, Q", his sister continued as she turned her seat to the main screen of her station whilst removing her special visor unit from her eyes, "We're out of danger for now, I guess - concealed by all of these dead vessels. Seems like the debris and hulks have been following the kadeshi titan ever since this war started between them and the vaygr hordes. It is acting as a brittle protection versus blindshots. We better not stay all too long on this hulk, for it will sooner or later bash into one of the major ones on the way. The one we are riding is actually gripped by the kadeshi mothership's field that is causing it to orbit in a much awkward elliptic orbit."

"Nothing should be able to emerge from hyperspace with this intensive gravimetric field. Pretty much safe…"  
Ironically, the looks upon all surveying screens revealed their 'safe' surroundings to seem more like a dreadfully filled asteroid field - but made out of dangerous scorched heaps of destructed vessels. Nonetheless, the amajis were still shocked by the ongoing onslaught that took its place here and now, a dreadfully cold grasp of reality. Brief flashes threw shadows of the hulk… likely, that another kadeshi capitol ship dispersed by an instable cataclysmic core breach…

"Ehh, Commander…", Fenna's shy voice sounded from far ahead of the darkened bridge.



"What, Ensign? ngh", Hailynn sighed painfully, obviously doing another false movement.  
The young amaji pilot leaned her head into Hailynn's field of view,

"Y'know… I've been on duty for several hours – and we are sort of in.. .safety… I could really need a short break - Desperately."

"Fenna, we all have been on duty and in action for ages, Fenna, and I need all of you to stay put… I can't let you go. I myself can't pilot the ship in this bad shape either."  
"I _really_ need to… Hailynn", Fenna replied with a much more embarrassed voice.

"Commander Delixa", the captain voiced from the side, "I fear the ensign is referring to the point that we are all kushans and still have natural _urges_."

Noticing what the captain mentioned, it became clear to her that all operatives and subordinate officers have been on duty for an awfully long time.

"I'm sorry. I understand you now. Hold on, Fenna", Hailynn replied to her and turned her view behind and upwards, looking upon Aira's station, "Velle. Velle?"  
"Yeah?"  
"How's Aira up there?"

"Eh, she seems to be talking to the kadeshi – but other than that, I guess she is recovering from that attack or whatever happened to her."  
"Alright – I want you to come down here and take over Fenna's station while she is at the restrooms."  
"What?"  
"Huh?", Fenna questioned Hailynn's command as well.

"Hey, Fenna – Time is running. Get going, you have a few minutes", Orelis replied back to the pilot, "And hurry up. Same for all of you – If you need a break, take it NOW."  
Other immediately lifted themselves from their seats and made their way to the rear exits of the bridge as Velle slowly climbed down from the sensory station.

"Oh, and Fenna", he lastly said to her and tossed her a small cartridge of inhibitor pills, "Take one. That's an order."  
Fenna shook her head slightly, she hated them for what happened to Hailynn's health… but there was not much of a choice for her.

"But I don't know how to fly a ship like this one, Commander. I'm only a support operative."  
"I know, I see your uniform, Velle. Just sit there and touch nothing until Fenna comes back. We need somebody there to do something if anything should happen."

Hesitatingly sitting upon the physical navigation station of the 'Vjel-Amaj' was more than overwhelming for Velle. Far too many interfaces, buttons, and sophisticated controls for her to manage, but luckily, she only had to just sit there and wait.  


"Oh dear…"

Others operatives in need followed Fenna on the way.  
Hailynn seemed worried about Aira though. All this time through, the girl seemed to have a long-going desperate conversation between her and those superior voices of 'Kadesha's Ark'… but for now, she insisted to let the girl take initiative. This was the first time she was stepping out of the shadow for the sake of the ship and the souls onboard.

The grim deck officer rubbed the harsh surface of his face, "Damn, Hailynn, I could need a shave myself…"  
"…Don't even remind me what I am in need of…", she quietly said back to him, trying to forget the fact of being in the same clothes for way too long.  
"Hmm?"

Several long moments later…  
"… Ray, just listen… I know you are busy. I-I don't know what to say to you… but I simply want to see you again. Just take care of yourself out there, okay? It is a very ugly battle… I don't know if we will survive this", the amaji pilot whispered into her handheld communication transmitter.  
""I understand your plea and those of the 'Vjel-Amaj', Fenna of Amaj, but this may be the last time we will speak."", the deep voice answered back.

"Don't say that! -", her hand trembled as she remembered the dialog she recently had with him, "I only wish you to know that -!"

At the edge of Hailynn's eye, she faintly noticed a colored beam that shortly crossed over the screen at the farthest arc. The beam that appeared at the bleak of the second, composed of a red and blue stream, teased her memory. She had seen something like that happen a long time ago. However, she did not want to disturb Aira about this. Probably was just a prismatic flash by some reflection… Or was it a hallucination caused by her stress? Her hands rubbed her strained eyes. The medication she was pumped with several times ago were surely impacting on her psyche.

Noticing other operatives exiting the restrooms, Fenna nervously spoke faster, "L-l-look, I can't really say how m-much I… Crap, please come back … You mean much to us… me…"

Not having any chance to speak further, Fenna swiftly hid her unit, while awkwardly waving at the bypassing groups. After being left alone along the corridor to the bridge, she gave a long sigh as she quietly stared upon the comm-unit.  
_I wish he would -…_

All of a sudden…  


A plethora of unexpected concussions and shattering motions rocked the entire amaji cruiser, throwing her and the others ahead to the floor.  
"CRAP! W-WHAT WAS THAT?!", somebody yelled from ahead.  
Fenna lost her communicator but unfortunately was already shocked by the sudden eruption.

Bridge  
Alarming tones sounded from all sides as all screens failed and regained their images.  
"I want a frakking report, STAT!", Orelis yelled to everybody.  
"Several explosive impacts detected among all areas around the ship, minor hit to one of the dorsal armor units. The charged plating absorbed all of its devastating -"  
"Stop explaining the details, where the FRAKK did that attack come from?!"

"Bloody FRELL", Hailynn yelled, "I KNEW it wasn't my imagination! Scan arc: seven o'clock!"  
Operatives of the tactical station frantically searched the near vicinity upon the interfaces but did not find any source of aggressive threats, "Negative! Nothing in a three klicks radius, Commander! I don't get it – What was that?!"  
"You seem to know what it is, Hailey, we're all ears!"

"'P-Painter'!"  
"WHAT?!"  
"It's a frakking vaygr 'Armitage' corvette! nnghh ahhhh A hyperspace gate craft coupled with artillery painter systems - able to guideline any fr- E-Everybody – brace yourselves for another ARTILLERY BA-!!"

Yells of shocked voices occurred from all sides as several violent impacts crushed everywhere upon the mangled hulk, cruelly rupturing and bursting more massive chunked plates and parts of scorched debris into the space. Blasts struck near the resting amaji cruiser, luckily only scathing the outer plating slightly. Before Pethera lost her balance totally, her torso was caught by Orelis' arm that wrapped around her, fortunately able to catch both of their balance simultaneously.  
"Hang tight!", he yelled again and embraced her in order to stay on the same spot without being thrown away. She blushed as the man protected her from harm.

After all the violent impacts ended, Hailynn anxiously tried to say a word, but was briefly stunned by the staggering pain that was caused by her seat harnessers and her serious injury.

Again, all screens flickered and failed to reveal long range data due to the adjacent radiations – however, one operative was able to recognize and focus the blurry image, "Hold on! I think I found it! Bringing on screen #3!"  
Discovering the object, Hailynn immediately recognized its fuselage…



The image revealed a secluded object, a craft only about the size of a corvette moving and dodging debris and other obstacles in its path. Practically unarmed… and yet it possessed one of the most dangerous and deadliest sensorial supporting systems any striving supreme armada would crave for.  
"Aww damn!", somebody else yelled, "Starboard broadside suffered a severe EMP wave. Polarization is fluctuating, it is loosing integrity!"

Another plethora of colored beams moved everywhere upon the ruptured hulk, scanning and seeking a much more appropriate area from the repositioned arc… then suddenly focused upon a specific area with deadly accuracy.

"For frakk's sake, Fenna, GET US OUT OF HERE!", Orelis yelled ahead to the navigation station.  
"**I'M NOT FENNA**", the woman's voice cried back to him.

The deck officer cursed loudly as he totally forgot that Fenna was currently not available.  
"Guess that vaygr doesn't have humor…", Hailynn quietly snapped, obviously only said by the reaction of her guilt. The warlord must have become aware of the taiidan mothership's destruction.

"We've been marked!"  
"H-Hold on: Detecting a wave of large projectiles coming in from 8 o'clock high!", one of the tactical operatives declared, "Barely able to tell but the wave will hit in approximately 15secs!"

"Shit!"

"Fen – I mean, Velle! Detach as from this frakking hulk and - !, Hailynn yelled but was immediately interrupted by her shouting reply.  
"I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FLY THIS THING!"  
"The panel! ON YOUR LEFT SIDE! IT SAYS -"  
"WHERE?!"

"IT'S -"  
"I CAN'T FIND IT!"  
"TEN SECONDS! Barrage inbound!"

"Collision alerts to all decks!", Orelis ordered as he tightened his other arm around Pethera once more.

Hailynn ferociously shouted ahead, "VELLE, SLAM THE CONTROLS AS HARD AS YOU 

CAN TO ANY SIDE?!", hoping this desperate idea would work.

"WHICH ONE – WHERE?!"  
"FOR FRAKK'S SAKE, AS MANY AS YOU CAN OF THEM TO THE RIGHT! NOW!"

Forced by anxiousness and adrenaline, Velle frantically grabbed the controls and did as Hailynn demanded to her. By the cause of her action, the ship rumbled but responded as gravitational fields began to focus on the right side.

"Come on… COME ON!", Hailynn desperately prayed, hoping it would work.

Slowly but surely, the wrecked hulk began to rotate and yaw into a certain angle. During its rotation, the amaji cruiser became covered by the moving side of the hulk that was smashed and devastated by the artillery barrage. Even more scraps ricocheted or exploded as the majority of the shells met the surface…

"Oh my gods… It worked…", Hailynn announced loudly, "We've got to get the ship off this thing! They for sure won't be giving us a second chance once they have a clear aim again!"  
"We need to be a moving target, Hailynn – Only that will save us from getting killed!", Orelis added to her comment.  
"WORD!"

"Commanders! Bad company!", Quan yelled in a very alarming tone, "Strikecrafts inbounded -"  
"What?! Did they disband from the outer battles?!"  
"Negative! They are emerging from the 'Armitage' corvette!"

Hearing his words, she angrily clenched her teeth… They were going to need to make another run for it…

part 4

Part 4 of x

The air within the bridge was getting thicker as the many people anxiously shouted and yelled reports. Once more, the ship suffered a short static interference caused by an adjacent ion beam again but ironically was ignored by most of them.  


"Minor casualty reports coming in again, ma'am, but overall, we are still fully operational. The Chief Medical Doctor still requests for an immediate return to Amaj-"

"All armor segments along starboard are slowly recovering – Hazardous thermal ratings decreasing!"

"At least some good news! Tell Dr. Jonas that we're working on it! sort of…"

"Damn 'Armitage'… The vaygr are using it to slip some of their units right past all confrontations!", the hiigaran woman commented quietly.  
"Commander Delixa, Commander Orelis - I was able to identify some of the signatures of the strikecrafts before we lost line of sight. One portion of the group are _bombers_! Plasma bombers!", somebody yelled from ahead while Fenna and others rushed and stumbled into the bridge.

"Are we being pursued?!"  
"Uhhh - Negative, negative! They're not pursuing us, but the enemy units seem to have attained course to a far heightened position above the majority of the debris!"

"Oh, those idiots are up to something, I'm sure of that…", Orelis commented, who already thought of the worst to happen, "I want a full tactical make-out of what that squadron is full of – asap!".  
"Affirmative!"

The annoyed deck officer rubbed his chin several times while staring upon the tactical overlay screen that revealed the enemy group disengaging and regrouping elsewhere.

"B-Bomber?! Hey, can anybody – oouf catches balance What's going on?!", Fenna frantically asked while fighting against the force pushing her to from side to side.  
Snapping out of his pondering, he immediately struck his hand towards the helm, "No time for talk, get to your station, Ensign – Move it!"

Somewhat graceful, Velle was more than thankful of Fenna's return. Both women awkwardly swapped their positions. Hailynn had been yelling so many confusing commands to her ever since the sudden attacks that she forced the ship to bash against any chunk of debris in space, fortunately the loose ones. At least Velle managed to detach and disable the anchoring field of the ship in order to escape – Not bad for a total rookie, Fenna lastly thought.

Both tactical operatives reported their readings to Orelis.

"Tactical scan completed! We've detected two dozen of vaygr bomber units, two heavy multi-turret 

turanic corvettes and… another group of seven unknown heavy taiidani corvettes! Unknown hull configuration, sir, but just the looks of them tells me they are some sort of heavy artillery units as well!"  
"Torpedo launchers, I'm sure of that, but those plasma bombers will deal severe damage to our ship as well, Commander – I must avoid contact!"

"Torpedoes? Artillery siege vessel? Railed mass driver… As if we haven't seen enough today…"  
"Hailynn!", Fenna yelled as she noticed something on the screen ahead of her.  
"What?!"

Not even able to catch her breath, the young pilot cried a single word back to her, "- Convoy!"

Indeed. The 'Vjel-Amaj' was reaching the rim of the debris field, soon to cross its border line into the open region but close to one of the many fleeing groups of kadeshi ships. Hailynn's eyes frantically searched all screens for any kadeshi swarmers of some sort. Unfortunately, there were hardly any defensive units on any of the tactical screens among the frontal arcs.

A dreadfully cold shiver ran down Hailynn's spine… a disgustingly guilty feeling. It seemed as if she stumbled over a weakly protected area of the whole convoy, but unfortunately also lured vaygr forces and their aim directly upon these helpless ships. She knew they were going to use this advantage somehow by sparing heavy units to the area.

The cold truth of reality struck her mind.

Having the decisive units beyond and everywhere protecting the integrity of the inner sphere, it became clear that the entire combat fleet of the kadeshi was desperately repelling the vaygr and their collaborators from breaking through to the inner convoy. This dead zone of space and gas around 'Kadesha's Ark' was an important aspect for their security… and now was in great danger as the enemies penetrated its perimeter.

Aira was still too distracted. She probably did not have the chance to even react, for she still seemed to desperately try to convince them about the kiith amaji agenda of enduring will of support and freedom.

Focusing her eyes upon the vaygr and the special ship that was approaching the heightened vector, it also became clear that the 'Armitage' artillery marker ship was going to conduct the next target painting. While her smack talking against the vaygr warlord may have provoked him, she became aware that the confrontation was a special _attempt_ – intentional but not caused or led by unthoughtful anger...

"_Too predictable, you damn vaygr… I know what this is all about…_", Hailynn remarked to herself 

before focusing her view to her second-in-command, "Orelis, they will be waiting for us to cross into the opening! Pretty damn sure they will be alpha-striking us – AND the kadeshi on this side of the convoy! They'll be attacking through projectile artillery barrage from those siege vessels somewhere in that mess beyond the 50km barrier and missile-volley through those smaller crafts at our vicinity! And you can bet that damn painter will mark us with deadly precision no matter how much we try to dodge its marker!"

"What make you so sure?!", he questioned her with a troubled glare.

"long pause… I've… no… the captain and I, we've seen it before…"

The ex-captain nodded quietly.

"Okay, but as the T.O. operatives said, the 'Vjel-Amaj may have _tough skin_' – but neither the armor of those non-combatant kadeshi ships nor ours will withstand direct hits of such massive caliber or warhead, Hailynn! We've got to stay in cover!"

"Your XO's right, Commander", Zann added to Orelis' words, "One surgically precise hit already could seriously severe the armor's integrity – or worse! I don't know how fast we can react to a decompression!"

"Maintain pressure lockdown! It's far too late to turn back! That marker is already backtracking us… and I'm sure they'll be performing sureshot through accurate targeting profiling as soon as we hit the opening! Whatever we do, they'll be striking on us and the kadeshi! We can't allow the defenseless kadeshi to be destructed only because we brought the vaygr, Orelis!"  
He shouted back to her while the ship rocked back and forth, "Are you out of your mind! We better get the ship within this debris field and toss up some jammers or we'll be slaughtered just by the rain of death!"

The at first anxious hiigaran woman calmed herself down, "No, they won't nail us, they won't – trust me… There are some things about vaygr brute force and our knowledge! You've got to trust me on this one!"  
Though he shook his head, he ironically already sensed she was up to something, "I'm all ears, Hailynn…"  
"Yes, the 'Vjel-Amaj' is surely not able to withstand direct hits, but I tell you – We still can survive the artillery barrage! It's all about _angle-of-attack_ vectors they'll be striking from…"  
"I don't get it…"  
"Don't worry…"

Kenta suddenly wove for Hailynn's attention, "Commanders, there's something I wish to show you before we cross the line!"

"Just explain now already!", Orelis demanded harshly, least noticeable by his impatience.  


"Y-Yes! The following: I have great concerns about reaching and dispatching our strikecraft units at the desired position! It will be far too dangerous them according to the regional scans and updates!"  
"Details! Now!"

"The battlefields are constantly shifting… Observatory indicates several tense events of combat and skirmishes throughout the destination!"  
"- and your suggestion would be?!"

"I-I'm not a tactician, sir, but our units would be able to traverse safely into the dense wake by flying through these hazard fields! It'll be a rough flight for them, but being small in signature, they'll likely be as hard to detect like that, that tactical painting… err… whatever gate ship, that ship that jeopardized us! We will not be able to overwatch or maintain communication with our strike pilots with all these interferences but they will have a better chance if they launch before we enter the opening!"  
Receiving a short nod by Hailynn, Orelis hesitantly confirmed and ordered Kelsea to forward the information further to the fighter pilots and prepare them for launch.

"Good thinking, Kenta! Guess that crazed manaani was asking for a real challenge anyways."

"A-Aye, thank you, sir…"

"Packard – Help me ready them!", Kelsea's voice said from further away, but did not receive an answer. Instead, she continued on her own which took a short moment, "Fighters standing by and ready for launch!"

_Take care, Kaydaana…_

"Launch strikecrafts! They know what their job is…"  
"Roger! To all units! You are clear for launch! Good luck, good hunt – and come back safely!"


	19. Chapter 18 part 2 of 2

**- Serving her Divinity -**

Anxiety disturbed Hailynn. She knew Kaydaana is a brilliant pilot, but sending on another dangerous mission plagued her more than ever…

"Kelsea, before they blast off, I wish you to make the following clear to them before ending the last transmission. Make sure they keep a low profile while heading to the Mass Catapult! Notify them that we won't be able to support them for now, but we will pick them up after supporting certain hotspot arcs of the convoy! If the surgical strike goes wrong: NO HEROIC ATTEMPTS, NONE OF THAT CRAP – I want our people back alive – I don't want to be needing any more funerals!", Hailynn additionally notified to Kelsea in a very serious tone, "From now on, radio silence - unless urgent!"

Not only Kelsea but also the views of many others filled with worries, "U-understood, Commander!"

After several long moments, the 'Vjel-Amaj' cleared the debris fields and dashed ahead into the open region, heading straight for the myriad of kadeshi ship... soon to be precisely pinpointed and marked by several colorful lines.  
Again, sounds of alarms echoed throughout the bridge as one of the tactical operatives gave the warning, "Alert – Artillery attacks imminent!"

Hailynn quietly cursed. Despite the target painting procedure being old fashion, merely an ancient method of naval warfare, irony played its game… It was still a very serious threat not to be underestimated.

"Did _they_ make it?", Orelis asked.  
"We're drawing all attention upon us, Commander Orelis. None of the enemy combat units are engaging Colonel Manaan's group… ", Quan replied as his eyes followed the units the dots melting into the mass of debris signatures, "They're slipping under all scan waves, barely able to distinguish them myself – Looks like all is going right!"

"I don't know if Aira's sensorial abilities are sensitive enough to maintain a passive survey over our units within such a vast wake, ma'am", Kelsea added to Quan's words, "She was already barely able to penetrate it and detect the Mass Catapult!"  
"Don't worry, let's leave Aira alone for now! We'll just have to trust Kaydaana and her units, both of you. However, I wish to have our enemies to focus their aim on us and only us! Spread all of our conventional sensorial arrays away from Colonel Manaan's group and have us beacon those idiots on us", Hailynn noted,

"Let's make sure they haven't notice our _move_ in this… game of hunt…"  
"_Game of hunt_? ", Orelis asked to her, "You mean hunting game, or?"  
"No, game of hunt… vaygr sort of like the way it sounds."  


"Whatever. I still find it very insane and suicidal actually sending her and the group like this through the field – not to mention against an escorting group and that Mass Catapult, Hailynn…"

"Insane is her twelfth name, Orelis", the seriously injured woman quietly said to him as she wiped her face. Though Hailynn tried to hide it, only Orelis noticed that she wiped a tear of worry from her eye, "Frell, I'm worried, too. This is all out of hand… So many deaths have happened so far… and I'm sending in the only help we can give to these kadeshi to survive. Suicidal… but she'll make it… _somehow_ – Nevermind, let's concentrate on surviving these attacks!"  
Separate stars flashed again upon the backgrounds of the bridge.

"…Alright…", he replied. Though his quiet tone at first notified his concerns, "Did you just say 'twelfth'?! Gods… What is her second name then?!", he ironically snarled to himself.  
Hailynn turned her view away from him, "…_Manaan_."

"So… You really are going to throw our _precious_ lives for these kadeshi fanatics while leaving all fate into the hands of that manaani preckbird, Delixa?", Pethera slowly but viciously remarked, "You've really lost your mind… Delixa."

Only hearing her voice already caused Hailynn to become aggravated, but fortunately, Orelis intervened just in time by raising and waving both hands to them to stop at once. However, all hell broke loose again as the expected event took place…

Upon that very moment, one of the tactical operatives shouted, "Artillery barrage **inbound**! Artillery barrage **INBOUND**!", he repeated several times.  
Every single amaji operatives were overwhelmed by the noise that sounded from all sides.

"Detecting a multitude of high energy readings emitting along the area of the tactical gate ship and its units! They've launched guided plasma bombs, torpedoes and cruise missiles - EVERYTHING!"  
"DAMN IT! – Alright, alright… Hailynn, I'm not sure of what to do now… This is your move from here on!", he yelled to her.

Anxiousness was already at present, but soon, it rose into greater panicking. Only the most eager officers were barely able to stay focused. Striking a commanding gesture with her hand to the side, the injure commander demanded, "Ensign Fenna! I need you to do exactly as I say! Everybody else, brace yourselves and notify the crew by collision alert! Tactical, I need a rundown on the firing positions and the time left for us to _compensate_!"

Hailynn's affliction caused by her body's crave for the drug shortly visited her by a sadistic sting striking her mind.



"Affirmative! Artillery barrage firing position: 54.7 km away, Angle of Attack: our 5 o'clock high – dorsal! Expected time arrival of impact narrowed down to 58 seconds! Massive caliber artillery fire expected! "

Right after the end of the first tactical operative's speech, the second one added his report, "Volley firing position is coming from 7 o'clock, approximately 14km away from our current position! Our course and flight speed will delay the time of arrival to approximately 2 minutes!"

"Gonna be a deadly mix of EMP, explosive and armor piercing warheads - Thermal damage through plasma entropy, that's for sure!"  
"Notify the kadeshi that we are here to serve the divinity of Kadesha!", the hiigaran commander told to Kelsea, who immediately relayed a simple repeating transmission to those wished to save.

Sweat pearls ran down Hailynn's face while her mind immediately tried to form a swift plan. The vaygr are using both barrage and volley to pin them down… but remembering the words of her tactical operatives, it became clear that the torpedoes and plasma bombs would deal the most damage if the 'Vjel-Amaj' is rendered immobile or crippled by outer energetic surges. The nimble amaji vessel itself already proven itself for the first time of withstanding great heat exposures, but it was the beings within its body that would suffer greatly from extensive heat.

Goosebumps ran down the trail on her skin left by the shivering. Memories of horrific occurrences… men and women burned alive… boiled blooded or worse… She suddenly breathed erratically as she woke up from these terrifying memories.

"Supplemental! The siege barrage is focused on our possible positions, while the missile attacks are widespread among several trajectories!"  
"Just as I thought -", she yelled, "Those propelled missile attacks are focused on the fleeing convoy, but will also lock us down if we attempt any greater evasive maneuvers! Pretty sure a group of those torps will branch off too - but we still have time to stop their attack!"

"And just how?!", her currently executive officer skeptically asked.

Hailynn threw her back upon the seat, "This will be a TOUGH one everybody… Listen carefully! The artillery barrage will hit us very soon before the missile attacks! We will attempt to _dodge_ this death-from-above attempt by _holding still_, then attain full anti-missile profile and engage a defensive bearing appropriate for the maximum coverage of our turrets! Zann, intensify the armor's frontal arc with all we've got – and one more thing: Relay power away from powered units of the ship! We cannot allow those EMP discharges to disable vital segments of the ship!"  
"Yes, ma'am!"  
"But you said we wouldn't be able to dodge – and we'll dodge after all by holding still?! What kind of tactic is -?"

Captain Quenton Sobaan suddenly raised his hand to gain the attention of Orelis' and others who watched them, quietly gesturing them to listen to Hailynn, "Raise collision alert status to all decks! This will be a lot more tense! Tactical – retract and bulk all weapon pylons and turret batteries! Immediately after the initial barrage, deploy them again!"  
Though confused, the tactical operatives nodded.

"Artillery barrage, 20seconds left!"  
"Pilot! Disable all gravity fields acting as form of propulsion in order to maintain a drift while we point the nose of the ship elsewhere and use the maneuvering fields to rotate the ship to our… 5 o'clock HIGH! Angle 332°, vector delta seven-point-three-one! Follow the blinking triangular symbol that I marked through my interface", Hailynn made a long pause until Fenna finished commencing her command, "Alright! Yaw counterclockwise at the rate of 0.3 rad – No no, counterclockwise, not clockwise, for frakk's sake!"

"I'm on it, Hailynn!", Fenna replied loudly and began trying to conduct her orders by the controls. Despite still being a total rookie considering advanced maneuvering, her awkward way of maintaining the ship's helm fortunately brought the ship continuing its drift as Hailynn demanded… however pointing the nose and frontal arc directly into the dangerous attack from 'above', soon to conduct a slow spin.  
"H-HAILYNN!", the young amaji cried and panicked suddenly while the screens flashed red, "Wh-What are you asking me to do?!"

Pure death was only a single moment away - instead of attaining a safer position, the 'Vjel-Amaj' aimed itself straight into the eye of death.  
"EVERYBODY, BRACE YOURSELVES!"

The singular moment felt like an eternity as the ship undergone and suffered violent impacts upon the hull, shattering and trembling everything. Many yells and cries sounded everywhere as the shells smashed down upon the ship… but none of them were comparable to those of Aira. The crushing impacts that occurred frequently were so intensive that even Aira shrieked loudly, as if it were her very own skin being punctured.

Ironically, Hailynn noticed that her numerous vulnerable injuries she suffered from as the harnessers squeezed them were nothing compared to how the frail kadeshi girl cried with each brutal and cruel hit... The hiigaran woman failed to sorrow for the girl as the intensive stabbing pain stole her breath. Thrown and shaken at all possible directions, the ship rocked once more as it spun until the barrage ended its strike. The deadly end devastating rain of death stripped through the gas in space… bound to blindly strike on any unlucky beings within the thousands of skirmishes beyond the warzone.

"- We… We're s-still… alive…", somebody's shaky voice remarked from the side.  
"Gods… That must have been thousands of rounds… 800 to 1400mm… or larger…"  
Once again, Orelis only chance of staying on his feet was to both hold the bar above him and embrace the s'jeti woman he hated so much with his other arm.  
"Frakking frell… REPORT!"

"D-Diagnostics failure, sir… Looks like EMP surges did hit something after all, but it's not all too serious from what I can see", Zann replied to him, "Sure of dents and some visible impacts… We've taken some very heavy beating – but without any severe damages!"

Zann gave additional comments of the ship's status the best he could explain, most of them sounding positive – not even a single breach through the armor or hull despite other non-important segments of the ship affected by malfunctions. His voice sounded astonished of the results. Several others moaned as they felt nauseated.

"Now I'm open for explanations, Hailynn… Captain Sobaan…! How the frakk was this ship able to withstand such an attack?!", Orelis shouted.  
"THIS IS NOT OVER!", Hailynn yelled back to everybody, "TACTICAL, DEPLOY ALL WEAPON PYLONS! HELMSWOMAN, COURSE VECTOR TO MY DESIGNATION!"  
Fenna hesitated. Just recently had she expressed great panicking as she saw the raining wall of death dashing its way past as well as bashing upon them.

"**FENNA**!"

Lost of mind, she blindly tried to move the ship to Hailynn's designated course correction. At the same time, the ship's status screens showed all defensive turrets and weapon pylons expanding themselves again as she demanded and planned before.

All tactical overlay screens revealed missile strikes, fusion torpedo and missile volleys and even plasma bombs were spreading everywhere among all arcs, some of them focused on the majority of the defenseless kadeshi vessels while other threats circled around the certain arcs of the 'Vjel-Amaj'… intelligently locking it down as it was still a drifting target. All threats were so imminent that Hailynn

"You nearly had us on that move, vaygr… Alright, gunnery control! I want all defensive batteries and turrets to target and counter all opposing threats against us AND the kadeshi!"  
"What?! There are far too many arcs to take on in such short time!", Orelis commented to her, "Frakk's sake, Hailynn, we can't take on all of them!!"

"No buts! This ship may be a small one, but she's proven herself as a FLEET DEFENDER! Auto-target support arrays on all threats among all possible arcs! Point-Defense-Systems! Field jammers and multispectral ECM to focused guidance! Maximum coverage! FULL SPREAD! Continuous fire by my command! Conduct targeting!"

Though many still found her attempt led by slight madness, they concurred with her command. All screens began symbolizing reticules, trajectory indicators, sets of instantaneously mathematical calculations and many other supportive targeting lines aligned on all targets.

"Targets acquired!"  
Sounds of acquisitioned echoed many times as other operatives announced confirmations.  
"Alighed and locked ooooon…. Done!"  
"All turrets armed, charged and ready to fire, Hailynn!", Orelis lastly confirmed to her, leading all tactical ready for receiving her command.  
"Pray… everybody –"!, Hailynn desperately begged to them, then suddenly yelled," To All Units… fire… **FIRE FIRE FIRE**!"

Within the tense moment, the 'Vjel-Amaj' sprayed massive amounts of flak ammunition, mass projectiles, particles and flechette rounds upon all opposing arcs filled with the approaching threats. Spinning by motion, all turrets accurately fired and replaced streams of rounds as the ship swirled to the next arcs. The entire crew felt ship trembling as all turrets conducted continuous fire. Results began to become visible. Multiple explosions started occurring among the vicinity, building walls of fiery explosions and violent fusion discharges at first erupting, then being consumed by the gases and the cold reality of deep space. There seemed to be no end in the streams of fire emitting from the amaji cruiser that desperately protected itself and the kadeshi ships from death. Never had any of the young amaji crewmembers throughout the bridge experience such counterattack since the distressed escape into the frozen comet.  
After twelve very long minutes with countless thousands of rounds streaming at blinding speeds like whips into additional torpedo volley attempts from the enemy, all explosions vanished among the arcs… leaving the 'Vjel-Amaj' drifting backwards towards the kadeshi vessels that were still far away. Despite space being 'empty', fusion discharges caused by destructed torpedoes set violent shockwaves free that whipped on the hull of the ship. Fenna aligned the ship with its dorsal coverage still focused on the faraway 'Armitage' ship and its supporting units, quietly keeping each other marked by the eye.

"U-uh-Ah-All threats… n-neu-neutralized! ALL THREATS NEUTRALIZED! WE DID IT! WE DID IT!", one of the tactical operatives stuttered but then repeated into a cheer.  
"ALL ARCS CLEARED! W-We survived! W-WOO – WOOHOO!"  
"Kadeshi losses: zero! No losses or hits detected anyhow!"  
Several operatives suddenly cheered up along… surprisingly.  
All defensive turrets disengaged but remained on standby.

"_So this ship is good for something… after all… Foolish children…_", the s'jeti woman quietly remarked to herself.

"Well commanded, Commander Delixa", Captain Quenton noted to Hailynn, "You have done well."  
Using the moment of success, Orelis slowly turned himself around to Hailynn and Captain Quenton Sobaan, "Alright… That was… outrageous. Are you two going to keep this a secret?"  
The hiigaran woman hid her agony as she wiped her face.

Luckily, the captain took word, "Negative, this is not a secret."  
The others calmed down, wanting to understand how they managed to survive by Hailynn's tactic of survival as Captain Quenton explained slowly in his usually calm tone:

"Lieutenant Commander Orelis. Fellow amaji. All of you have witnessed what both Hailynn and I have learned during the past war during desperate times; the only way to survive and counter such common but deadly tactic and onslaught procedure of the vaygr. Frigate tactics."  
"F-Frigate tactics?! But we're not in a _frigate_, sir."

"I am no longer in duty, Commander. Nonetheless, precisely. One of the basic advantages in survival against such long range attack is its signature radius, especially in comparison with the attacker's angle-of-attack vectors. While the 'Vjel-Amaj' does possess a larger signature, its unique silhouette, defensive capabilities and natural physics during such attack does not differ much from that of a frigate."  
"Could somebody explain me WHY I was forced to fly the ship directly into the first wave of death?!", Fenna frantically asked, still shocked by the events.

"Offering the broadside or any other arc of our vessel would raise our signature negatively, which may have caused severe damages and internals. Commander Delixa knowledgeably ordered you with that intent due to the threat."

Orelis suddenly raised his head, "Ah – The shells then came in from such a sharp angle that many of them simply bounced or ricocheted off our hull! I assume the chance of a direct hit on the nose of our ship was near-to-impossible."

"Not really. We were just… lucky", Hailynn noted, "The yawing spin however lowered the chance of such a critical hit though."  
He crossed his arms and shook his head, "I never thought we would survive this, but again, both of you _veterans_ proved the opposite. You two impressed me again…"

Kelsea suddenly wove her hand, "Everybody, incoming transmission!"  
"Kadeshi wanting to thank us?"  
"Negative, Commander Orelis – The… vaygr 'warlord'…"

"You know the order."

"A-Aye, patching it through!"

Everybody quietly listened to the garbled but threatening voice of the vaygr warlord Hailynn had once spoken to:  
""short claps sounds. A faint applaud You have survived, hiigaran prey. You are indeed a… daunting prey. You are _worthy_.""  
"What?!"

"That was all, sir. A single transmission simply, err, 'tossed' among our sector. I assume he really wanted us to catch the transmission."  
The grim deck officer arranged his uniform again, "Well, I'll be damned. Whatever that damn bloke meant with worthy, I bet you he underestimated us. Hah! Bet he'll be thinking twice about -"

"No.", Hailynn's voice sounded from behind, gaining the attention of everybody.

Hailynn's view remained lowered as she spoke with full concern, "That is not 'vaygr'. Vaygr never underestimate their prey. Never do they 'play' with it. They don't tally around. This is serious, Orelis.", her words sounded somewhat threatening, "It is all part of the 'Game of Hunt'! He tested us. Our skills. It was not a challenge… It was a test… proving if we are truly a _worthy_ for this dreaded predator to end the hunt by slaying the prey, us. My fellow amaji, I am sure of one thing: The warlord will stop at nothing from now on. His interest for the kadeshi is surely left for taiidan-turanic collaborators… Oh, I'm sure the other vaygr assaulters will still continue harassing the kadeshi convoy – but we are the ones, who survived his test! We are the thorn in his eyes now!"

"Frakking frell… Hailynn, you should've never provoked him…"

"I had to, Orelis. It at least forced him to focus on something else. His anger did cause him to forget about his former intention."  
"I-I don't know about you, guys-", Fenna remarked from ahead, "but we're getting company!"

"What you talkin' about, Ensign?!", he yelled at her.  
"Several of those enemy… whatever – enemies are breaking through!"  
"As if we didn't have enough - "

Another critical explosion flashed among all screens, revealing another blast upon the outer structure of titanic vessel of the kadeshi. After the event, crystalline gases burst from the region…

"Report!"  
Kenta turned herself around, "I don't know really, but one area of 'Kadesha's Ark' just dispersed! Long range spectral survey detects a massive decompression of nitrogen, carbon-dioxid and… oxygen… Oh-Oh my gods! They are loosing atmosphere!"  
"Focus! On screen, NOW!"

Several screens immediately focused directly on the events, showing thousands of debris and gases spreading into open space…  
"… That's not debris that is being sucked out…"  
"Hate to say it! More bad news!", Quan suddenly added, "All kadeshi combat units are retreating from the outer battles! They're pulling back!"  
"Are they going to help the titan mothership?!", somebody asked from behind.

"No idea at all – but their retreat is causing all barrier combat areas around the entire region to fail repelling hostilities! I don't know, but my rough guess is that we'll be right in the thick of it, sir!", the superior tactical operative announced with great worry in his voice.  
"'Armitage' is starting to flux power to its conduit modules! Expecting another tactical hyperjump!"

More and more reports of hostile events echoed from all sides. Hailynn frightfully looked at all corners as all voices yelled. Her senses were getting out of control. Already feeling disgusted by her overused undergarments, her hand trembled while wiping sweat of misery from her face… The vaygr onslaught was ascending, soon to surround the entire region with their units against the kadeshi whilst having the 'Vjel-Amaj' near to the surrounding convoy and fleet around 'Kadeshi Ark'.  
_Kaydaana… Please…_

"All stations! We're going to be under heavy attack this time!", Orelis yelled to everybody, "I want all gunnery units to standby! If those idiots try another stunt, I want all of our guns to repel them! We can still take on those damn strikecrafts if they get too close!"

"! - What the…?!", Kelsea's voice suddenly called from the side, "Commander Delixa – urgent call! Communication request!"  
"Is that Colonel Manaan?!", he asked from ahead.  
"No, sir – It's an internal one! Chief Logistics Officer, Deena Amaj!"

Hailynn snapped out of her misery, ironically distracted by the sudden unusual call, "P-put… her through…", her voice however echoed in her head.  
"Roger! One moment… almost through… done! On all-talk! Got you through, Chief LO! Clear for speech!"

Everybody shortly ended their operations to listen to Deena's voice. Even Fenna, who fought trying to regain control of the ship's reverse flight, suddenly threw her view beyond her seat as she recognized the voice of her _evil half_.

Surprisingly, Deena's voice sounded totally different from what everybody actually expected. While everyone was frightened and scared by the events at the edge of this gaseous region occurring, Deena spoke with a much confusing 'lovely', kind and happiness-filled tone as if she had not even noticed the war or alarms going on,

""This thing on? You hear me – ahhh, helloooo bridge. Hi everybody… Sorry to bug you guys! Heh-heh, 3"", she said cheerfully and calmly.

Deena's overjoyed voice spoke further in such nonsense that caused many to ponder of what was wrong with her. Zann immediately called damage control teams, wondering if there was an undetected drop of atmospheric and oxygen levels that might have caused her to suffer euphoric gibbering, however, quick manual diagnosis revealed no trouble at all.

Even Orelis, whose fuse of patience never held long, was about to yell at Deena – but was rather 'intervened' by Fenna's sudden yell from the helm, "DEENA! Stop talking bullshit and get to the point!"  
""Ah, Fenna – heya sister! How's it going up there! You must be flying the ship, huh? Is it fun? I hope you're doin' fine with your vaygr roommate chuckle Sorry for the _surprise_ he did on you being not fully 'clothed' chuckles again""

Fenna's at first tempting anger suddenly shrunk into embarrassment. It was outrageous… An all-out war was going on right now… but nothing was more devastating than the gossips and words spread by her sister who seemed to be going on some strange verbal 'amok'. The young amaji was not even sure if she was more embarrassed by the bridge crew hearing about the event that happened at her quarter with Ray or the fact that she was talking like an idiot.

""Oh, by the way. Commander Delixa? I just wanted to inform you that we seem to have a small… well maybe not so small, let's say, eh, 'disturbing' issue in logistics that my subordinates and I just noticed"", Deena's voice hummed over the speakers.  
"What?", Hailynn did not sound annoyed at all.

""Y'know, boss, when we started on this rescue operation, we didn't really expect to stay so long out in space –""  
"AND?!", Orelis now yelled to her.  
""- Eh, we've noticed that we suddenly hit 'very VERY low' on one of our 'stocks'…""  
"Stocks?! What stocks?! Food?! Water processors?! OXYGEN?! WHAT?!", he yelled again and again.

""Yeah, stocks… Eh, you guys up there seemed to have had a great need and demand and, uhm, a murderously high consumption on stocks. huh, what you say? Oh yes yes – I should have said that from the first place, oh thank you for telling me - Where was I? Oh, yes, stocks are very low. To be precisely, fellow friends, our stocks are down to 0.883... in all ammunition stocks types. ""

Many eyes widened…  
"You've got to be kidding…"  
""Haha-ahahaha, that would have been a good joke, y'know, Orelis? Anyways, when we launched on this operation, we flew with some, err, 6 on overall ammunition and round stocks for those weapon systems of ours. Lasted pretty long, had some 5.8 when we left the comet – but until… err, recently, now? – and eh, y'know…"", somehow, her dumb speech and following absurdly long pause really sounded as if she shrugged.

"Oh-my-frakking-gods…", Orelis cursed with open eyes, "You mean you logistic guys… frakk… You… slaps side of his face Are you telling me you LO's stocked our only real feed for defense so SCARCELY?! Are you completely -?! Gods, no, GREAT JOB, Deena, GREAT JOB!"

""Oh, why, thank you, Commander Orelis, thank you for the nice compliment!"", she thanked him, obviously taking his ironically meant words as seriously meant…, "" We were pretty low on financial credits. So we sort of stretched our budget and only bought some ammunition from a stock market ship that was in orbit at Amaji Prime. Pretty nice bargain – not much, I was very sure it would be enough for the entire trip, heh-heh. No worries about anything else at the moment. Lookin' good on other stocks at the moment! Oh, looks like I have to get back to _work_ – Hope to hear from all of you soon, oh and 'Pride to the Amaj' – keepin' it real – Later, Deena out! veeeep""

"But -!", Deena dropped out before Orelis could say another word. Alas, his hand floated over his shoulder-mounted communication unit, somewhat holding himself back from recontacting Deena, "What the frakk was wrong with that woman…"

"We must stay focused on her report, Lieutenant Commander", Captain Quenton Sobaan noted to him, "Our 'offensive' defensive capabilities are greatly limited. With the enemy breaking through all arcs, our status is merely critical."

"So… in other word… we're pretty much dry on ammo for our only mean of defense. 'Gee-Gee'…"  
"Indeed.", the ex-captain confirmed. However, all amaji operatives did not understand what Orelis meant with one of these military terms again.

Aira was still negotiating with the kadeshi… She simply could not disturb her now. Hailynn threw another concerned look upon the tactical overlay; her eyes focused on the dense wake within this vast gaseous corridor at the very edge of the star system. Her thoughts and hopes drove all concerns for the perhaps only person and group that can serve Kadesha's Divinity…

5 of x

The noise of death silenced as the voice of the majestic emulator emerged above all, expressing the long tale of 'Kadesha's Ark' into the mind of Aira, whose holographic avatar quietly ghosted with the 'Vjel-Amaj' throughout the surrounding battle. Even the most violent explosions and erratic rains of turret fire did not distract them.  
Heeding the cadenza of reminiscences, Aira's memory was flourished with the entire history of her kadeshi heritage. Where time flew at its constant pace during this tense war, both minds expressed the moment timelessly. This unknown voice shared the story of her heritage… It was another spiritual experience she expressed, alike with Shodanii's fallen soul:

The beautiful Garden of Kadesh surrounded the girl, covering all reality of war beneath its enveloping beauty and sounds of faint bells. Where scared needleships and other vessel battled each other, all settled and formed into distant stars and fields shimmering through the nebula of eternal beauty. Aira's scarce reminiscences of this world unified with the majestic emulator's mind. Her eyes wandered wildly, at first scared and amazed by the sudden change. Unbelievable for Aira, it was the first time she was not dreaming of Kadesha's embrace in her sleep. Clouds of mystery, shrouds of beauty and crimson mists broke the light of distant stars into stunningly familiar spectrums… Her true homeworld...

Aira's soul sought for her home planet that was not far away but hidden beneath her divinity's embrace. Her soul longed much for it… However, her euphoria faded as she desperately tried to feel the imminence of her beloved embrace. Her soul remained left cold. Aira's hands faded through the mirage of Kadesha's embrace.

Our strive for the _truth_ never fell from our belief, child. We, the Descendants of the Seekers, have devoted our lives and prayers for Kadesha's lost love... Rahji. Banished by the Sunfathers' will, our ancestors pledged _devotion_ to true salvation.

_The sorrowful tale of Kadesha's lost love echoed within her mind as the gaseous shrouds slowly vanished._  
The voice of the emulator of the ark softly spoke further…

Your mind bears the tale of Kadesha's plight and the 'Tear' sent to her love… Your soul beseeches an everlasting plea. The young mind, thriving... Alas, the seek for the _truth_ awoke great hatred, fear and danger upon all kadeshi... but also unleashed free thought of beliefs. As the thought proceeded, visions of Rahji's sorrow plagued the minds of wise men for cycles, child, that one could only end the confusion by seek for truth. The tale of Kadesha's lost sorrow reflects upon all beliefs, but Rahji's name was never to be echoed.  
Despite the prime of kadesh to never echo his name, our ancestors could no longer bear neglecting the sorrow. The visions were absolute that one's mind began to question the Sunfather's everlasting hatred. Our ancestors of the synod and the triumvirate proclaimed _pilgrimage for salvation_.  
Our venture… A journey far beyond the reach of Kadesha's embrace forged greatest fear into the hearts of the brethren as the call spread amidst the Garden. The kadeshi mind may be pledged by strong will and believe… Our body and soul however _bleeds_ essence if we are not embraced by the Sungods… Our beloved Kadesha or the lost love, Rahji... The embrace must flow through our bodies for our mortal lives… to prosper... to flourish… and to seed new life.  
To survive our pilgrimage into the endless black sea, our ancestors have erected 'Kadesha's Ark', pride of her sorrow… blessed by her divinity's embrace, protected by faithful warriors and sentinels for the journey to his _sorrow_.

Her weak eyes suddenly discovered a blurry armada of ships far beyond, discovering the titanic 'Kadesha's Ark' leaving a dying scaffold in highest orbit among a beautiful planet whilst surrounded by many thousands of vessels and even more assaulting its fleeing ships. Amidst the battles within the nebula, it was simple to percept that this desperate battle resembled the vaygr onslaught that now endangered the 'Ark's' existence. Nonetheless, the event struck greater woes into the heart of the distant kadeshi girl.

We all are descendants of these ancestors who questioned and objected the Sunfather's hatred, child – We all share the same sorrows, fear and… _guilt_ of the past. Our ancestors bled their blood for this _guilt_ to encourage the Seeker's pilgrimage for Rahji's existence and the forge of 'Kadesha's Ark'. _Guilt_ and sin, for fulfilling unclean thoughts… for causing unclean… deeds. The ancestors were of no choice… but to siphon and consume the _pristine embrace_ deep within Kadesha's heart, the Sanctuary of Kadesh.  
The sects of various beliefs have struck death upon many of our kind for this deed, sacrificing the blood of our own as devotion to the Sunfathers' will to cleanse the condemned souls from _blasphemy and sin_. The Sects of the Sunfathers hold their belief for rightful… Rahji was to be forgotten... and those who believed in Rahji were to be **cleansed**. Cycles of sorrow passed, child. For all these cycles long, the Garden of Kadesh still remains in turmoil. Our pilgrimage is our only hope for salvation to end the tragedy caused upon all of our equals. Our belief is strong, child, the _truth_ will purify thought and belief amongst the Garden. The hatred of the sects, the deaths amidst her divinity's embrace – All of our prayers cry for Kadesha's sacrifice.

At the moment Aira's soul formed a question, her surroundings changed. Within a single heartbeat, Aira suddenly found herself inside a tank, a mechanical alcove filled with a stunningly cold and thick fluid that dreadfully froze her to the bone. Slowly moving her head, she discovered that she was inside a ship's complex.

Child… Your soul questions who you are? Your essence causes the wise synod puzzlement. Your blood… flows through the veins of many emulators. You truly are an emulator of the past, a lost _echo_ of our beloved divinity. A young emulator of before that now possesses the _truth_ of Kadesha's sorrow to her lost love… The truth for which our souls have been seeking throughout the galaxy for countless cycles.  
_Aira's hand tightened around the 'Tear of Kadesha'._

You are a child of a _fallen_ generation, emulator… Aira. A generation we have sorrowed for… for many cycles of kadesh. Many of your kind… existed… all of the same blood... All by one psyche… One psyche by all.

Floating within this fluid, only a bleak portion of her memory seemed to recover. Memories of such reflecting her forgotten life before. The alcove… Her body had been maturing within for a cycle… Aira slowly turned herself, only to find many other kadeshi adolescent beings floating in many life tank. Bubbles rushed passed her cold skin.  
All of them… they were brothers and sisters of her blood… No… No… She was of their blood… Aira was the latter born. Astonished by their appearances, both male and female bodies only differed marginally. Only now did she seem to understand that she was truly expressing one of the many undermined reminiscences, the faded memories hidden deeply within her entangled psyche.

_A long pause…_

My soul senses a mind in search for answers… Emulators differ greatly among each other, child. Transcendent unification with her divinity is our destiny; our song shall be our devotion to Kadesha and her love. We all may share equivalent devotion and love, but only blessed souls possess the will to _guide_ her divine 'Ark' and our souls beyond the eternal black sea. Her divinity always questions the soul. These souls were the chosen ones to be blessed by the _pristine embrace_… A young generation flourished by the blood devoted from 'The First', a lost female soul that reflects your identity and your presence, child - The delicate soul of a being that expressed most fortunate visions of Rahji and the bleak future of our path… pause However, emulator, I must confess that my soul fails in knowledge…

Despite the greatest mysteries of Aira's past, certain strains slowly began to clarify themselves. It all started to make sense to her. However, before she was able to form thoughts, she sensed great sorrows coming from the emulator.

They were all succumbed by the sects' devastating cleanse during the edge crossing into the vast sea of black eternity…

Flash… blackout… shockwaves… The explosions heard from afar ruptured the ship of its atmosphere. After losing her consciousness shortly without warning, Aira awoke, desperately trying to breathe and move alike the many kadeshi beings around her, people she seemed to know… The sudden chaos unleashed the greatest confusion and fear for her life, rendering her mind unable to percept everything well.

Elders and other unknown had no chance of survival. The violent gush of air tore everything away that was not solidly forged to her surroundings. It was that dreadful nightmare that once plagued her in her sleep that was now reality. Those that were not swept away by the gripping stream scarred her memory to the greatest content…

One frail girl, one of the many mirrored being like Aira's self, vainly cried for mercy – Her screams… those dreadful screams… ended at the same moment the cruel grip of space bereaved the last bit of life from her lungs. Far beyond, Aira lastly spotted others swept away from a distant section by the negative suction. To this point, it became clear to her that she was somewhere onboard the outer segment of 'Kadesha's Ark', a botanical and biological sector that was losing most of its integrity during this dreadful moment.

Their eyes… all of their eyes faded into a colorless grey…

A short time lapse occurred, distinct flashbacks of her and others alike being shown of Kadesha's beauty surrounding the outside of the ship happening long before this frightening event. Everything began to levitate, the gravity that once surrounded her body neglected her and failed. Having no escape, Aira's body slowly began to hover away as 'Kadesha's Ark' jettisoned practically all ruptured segments and modules from its outer skin.

One of the greatest guilt the elders still sorrow for… Our ancestors were thoughtless during that moment they have chosen to reveal her divinity's embrace to the eyes of the chosen souls as the 'Ark' was near the crossing. All chosen and 'The First' gathered together and were brought to the outer region of the 'Ark'. A generous moment… The souls of the chosen thrived with joy… until that moment the sects suddenly struck great death upon our brethren through a hideous attack. A devastating suffering…  
The ark of her divinity was threatened to lose all life… The synod and the triumvirate were left of no choice, sorrowing child… The wise minds were forced to sacrifice all that would cause the end the Seeker's song… abandoning those whose fates were definitely to be sealed by death's hand. The edge crossing into the black sea was our only way of survival… The sects failed to end our song. They feared the black sea and the many unclean who have ventured through her divinity a cycle ago… Alas, we were free to devote our generations for the sake of Kadesha's lost love.  
Having lost all of our blessed emulators, our guidance… our path shrouded. Our ancestors may have survived the sects' last attempts… but we were blinded, child. Without blessed emulators, we were damned to become lost into the black sea. Never were we able to bless emulators again. – Our journey through the sea of eternity to Rahji's lost soul took many cycles and bled so many… generations.

Meanwhile, far away from the ongoing battles around the kadeshi titan…  
A small distinct group of hiigaran fighters accompanied by a single vaygr interceptor swiftly cruised through the dense nebula. After a long flight of dodging hundreds and thousands of hazardous debris, the group continued their stealthy approach towards their objective.

Flying closely and below the others, one of the pilots piloting one of the two multi-turret fighters scanned the upper arc with his head, spotting nothing else than rushing gas clouds and the fighters floating nearby. The cockpit systems were the only things that hummed monotone noises. Despite the blind cruising, they were still on course.

"Sigh Welcome to Smokey-Ville, population: Us… Gods, this is annoying", the pilot nicknamed 'Ace' sighed.  
"Hey, what's wrong?", Ace's female copilot, Evoria asked from behind.

He shook his head, as if she had not noticed the tedious flight at all. Though wanting to turn around, his suit and the surrounding gear of harnessers hindered him.

"You're jokin' me, right, Evy? First we get called for, and then wait AGES while swallowing inhibitor pills like stupid – while that mothership blows up, just to find ourselves in ANOTHER mess - and now we end up floating through – you guessed it – ANOTHER cloud that we have to clean up with a bomb run? Aw man, I want to get out of here…"  
"Forgetting that we were contracted for this job, eh? You know we've been through this talking the last hours, or? We'll be getting that 'action' any time soon, Ace…"

"Yeaaah, yeah… grumbles", he mumbled and made a glimpse over to the vaygr fighter on the side, "Hey, that Ray-guy, he doesn't seem to talk much, huh?"  
"We were ordered to maintain radio silence. What were you expecting?"  
"Yeah, I know – I know! Just that he's a _quiet_ guy. He didn't seem surprised at all when I nearly shot him back in that freaking frozen comet. I expected those vaygr guys to be loud ones."

"We'll never know. Anyways, that friendly fire thing won't happen again, now that the mechanics fitted his fighter with a FoF unit. Should allow me to align turrets to the real threats, too."

"Good to know. Y'know, all of this -", hearing an urgent tone from behind, Ace looked around, "Hey, what was that?!"

"Whoa, it's a direct message from Alpha-Five to all", she said from behind and as she spoke further, Ace looked towards the fighter designated as Alpha-Five, "'Contact. Immense magnetometric signature, prime objective, detected at 11 o'clock, approximately twenty-eight kilometers away. Several widely spread patrols detected further away from the objective's area – Closest patrol units are twelve kilometers away, confrontation should be avoided if stealth is maintained.  
Enemy detection of our presence is unlikely within denser regions of this dust cloud – patrols are using low grade 'Radar' surveillance. Confirmed by 'Ray'. Overall communication is suppressed by natural phenomena as the briefing presumed. Wait, more information. Objective area is lesser dense, allowing greater field of view – Please be advised. Bogeys' signature defined as turanic. Maintaining stealth approach should allow us the best chance of successful attack and survival.' End of transmission."

Formidably, it was the co-pilot of Alpha-Five who was skilled at attaining surveillance through passive methods through subtle manners.

"So, we are up for some trouble _after all_", Ace ironically mentioned, noticing the profile of the Artillery Siege vessel, the behemoth that harassed the majestic kadeshi titan with its devastating artillery.

"Not really. The patrols are widely spread among the area according to the tactical intelligence data I received from Alpha-Five, Ace. With communications 'naturally jammed' by the nebula, we might be able to do this surgical strike through a stealthy approach. But, hmm, Colonel Manaan's pretty quiet, she hasn't said a single word ever since we left 'Vee-Jay'. With her being this quiet, I'm sure she wants us to avoid trouble, or?"

"Ahhhhh don't worry, they'll do fine. Pretty sure we'll do this just as presumed: stealthy. Get in as close as possible and then nuke them, sky-high. No matter what, we'll be best off by closing in on 'em before they notice anything. Least way to lose – Not to mention, the smartest, hah! I bet Colonel Manaan will go for an 'Arc Twelve' to claw and ensure none of them getting away followed by the execution of the bomb run."  
"I still hope 'Vee-Jay' will be alive when we get out of this damn cloud… Never expected such a 'war' with **us** between the fronts…", his co-pilot mentioned while she leaned her back in gratitude for the safer stealthy approach, "Anyways, I think we'll be flying it smoothly for this bomb run. That last search and rescue sortie in that comet was pure FRELL! If we keep it up, we could probably set up them the bomb before anybody notices what hit them – Those are some heavy fusion nukes Colonel Manaan got under her rig - They'll be sorry."

Ace corrected the ship's course slightly, maintaining their position in this outright tight formation perfectly,  
"Ooooh-ho-hooooo yeah, gunny, they'll be **sorry**. Though I do find it insane to have a manaani carrying the heavy 'tactical fusion warheads' and I'm glad she can't hear us, too. I won't believe what I'm about to admit – but I'm glad that the Colonel is doing it this way. Avoiding trouble and sticking to our primary objective is the best tactical decision by far. Ha ha ha… She is indeed a very smart tacti-"

Without warning, an unexpected event flashed from above occurred, interrupting his speech.  
"-cian??", At first astonished by the sudden light in thought of an attack – mistakenly- , it was the beams of charged fusion thrusters enduring the afterburner sequence flashing by, leaving a trail of exposed energy by a remarkable heavy interceptor making its way straight ahead. Not even a second later, both pilots spotted the cone-formed vaygr fighter blasting ahead, following the trail of the Acolyte fighter.

Ace frowned.  
Startled of what just happened, both stared at the flashes striking ahead.

"N-N-No way… S-She…"  
"Aww, for FRAKK'S SAKE!", Ace yelled, not believing that his monologue praise for Kaydaana's stealth approach just shattered to pieces.  
"Oh my gods… S-She's blowing stealth to combat engagement – She'll – They'll be detected!"

Checking both sides, activities revealed themselves as the other common hiigaran fighters ended their stealth flight and engaged active tactical and propulsion systems as well. Noticing the Acolyte performing a steady barrel roll, the striving fighter engaged combat mode as it deployed both pylons and other minor maneuvering segments.

"Ooooooh-my-gods, she's going nuts!", Ace cried in a worried tone, unusual for him since he was the usual person to keep cool.  
"…What scares me most is that somehow… Ray was expecting something like that to happen… Look! He's following her tail! How the frell did he know that she was - ?!"  
As if the sudden situation was not tense enough, Kaydaana's thrillingly accented voice shattered what military tacticians would call 'radio silence', ""Yeeeeeeehaw! GIT GOIN'! THERE'S THE ENEMY! BLAST 'EM TO FRELL! GO GO GO!"", she yelled, her voice garbled by great interferences.

Needless to say, both pilots' mouth fell.

"Sometimes, I wonder if she's doing this on PURPOSE! Friggin' manaani!", he yelled once more to himself before slamming the thrust controls to their maximum.

""Oh, yah sonofva guns out there…!"", Kaydaana's garbled voice growled over the commline, devoted to the enemy patrol ahead, ""None of yah 're gonna survive THIS!""

**- Of Mice and Manaan –**

All hopes for stealth seized. Following the crazed Colonel straight into the heart of danger, Ray, Ace and the other pilots engaged a rather loose combat formation during their approach to the turanic patrollers. Despite their sudden approach, Kaydaana's _unthoughtful_ engagement did not only catch her squadmates but also the turanic patrollers made up of three by surprise.  
Least expecting an attack, the turanics detected her aggressive approach too late. Focusing her anger on the approach, the intensive pressure caused by the curve did not even distract her as the Acolyte entered a deadly-sharp curve at the patrol's rear that kept in formation. Rapidly pulling the triggers, rounds of hyper-accelerated projectiles were unleashed upon the strikecrafts classified by the targeting computer as the 'Bandit' class.

The 'Bandit' class, the bulk profile of this turanic interceptor is an aged yet well-and-much known design that has spread across the galaxy's fringes amongst all known factions of these nomadic raiders – but even more known by the criminal organizations and factions that frequently harass kiith amaji sovereign regions.

""Ah-HAHAHAHHAHA, eat THIS…!"", her voice victoriously yelled over the commline. Correcting the stream of fire, Kaydaana had a perfect line of sight through her sophisticated visor upon the lead of three Bandits.

Still several moments behind, the hiigaran fighters hasted to keep up on the tail of the thriving Colonel. Only Ray seemed to be closest to her position. ""HA! Gotcha!"", while the other hiigaran pilots felt nervous, her voice did sound victorious as she landed several hits, when suddenly… ""Whaaaat-?!""

Not believing her eyes, Kaydaana cursed several times over the commline. Despite the specific class and caliber of her mass driver charges being known for their effectiveness, her primary target of the three only suffered insignificant damage. The outcome of her aggressive attack did not seem to have her expected results at all.  
The damage caused, revealed as separate small parts crushed and dismembered from the side, was merely a surprise for the overhasty manaani. The three Bandits immediately broke formation, spreading away from each others before suffering any further hits. However, her thrill kept her focus upon the damaged Bandit that dived downwards through the dense shrouds.

""Yah not getting' away, FOOL!""

Kaydaana ignored speeches from her comrades, for she was outright annoyed by missing the kill. Never was it a good choice to disappoint a manaani in any situation.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… luckeh devil…", she mumbled while her thoughts formed several possible explanations - that were actually excuses - for her failed attack. Taking her curved approach in account, she seemed to be very sure that the Bandit only survived because of the angle-of-attack factor being too sharp, perhaps making it simple for the majority of her rounds to ricochet from its exteriors.  
She followed the swift Bandit that left the smoking black trail behind its path, somewhat trying to escape back to siege vessel. Having not return fire once, it also seemed as if the Bandit tempted her patience, only making the matters of her obsession worse. Her fingers twitched several times, wanting to pull the trigger, but each time she intended to fire, several interferences considering lock-on and trajectory symbols forced her to rearrange her flight as she followed the evasive target – forcing her to spin, barrel roll and lastly copycat her fleeing target.  
But lastly, it became clear to Kaydaana that the fleeing Bandit was indeed a very skilled pilot, unlike those terrorizing amaji space. Her baiting tactic in tricking the Bandit to a certain course by using wide spread missile pods failed.

_Skilled rascal, eh_?!

Unable to follow, Ace and the other hiigaran pilots were forced to disengage due to the separate two Bandits curving in towards their positions.

""Careful! Enemy 'Rock Rats' incoming – Your 3 o'clock low, Alpha-Three! Evade - EVADE!"", one of the pilots warned, notifying a direct assault on his wingmate, ""Break! BREAK!"".  
""Under fire!""

Streams of enemy fire hailed upon the third hiigaran interceptor, luckily missing thanks to the sudden reaction by following the evasive break command rather than trying to take on both aggressors. Sliding backwards away through momentum, Ace disengaged the thrusters while yawing the fighter to an 'upside-down' certain firing position, but then suddenly halted his attempt since he lost line of sight for his fixed rotary mass driver cannon. Spotting the three reticules representing the flexible secondary turrets, all three were unable to lock on the any of the two Bandits as well.

"Frakk, I lost them!"

"Unable to get a lock-on with the turrets either, they're damn fast alright – and I keep losing their signature profile through these clouds!"

""I missed, I missed!"", somebody else's garbled voice mentioned over the commline.

""Don't really on active surveillance systems! The enemy is using a special hull profile to suppress its signatures! Focus on passive guidance, over!"", the co-pilot of Alpha-Five called to all units.  
"Frakk them! We've got to stick to Colonel Manaan, Alpha-Two! She's moving ahead to _Rocksteady_ without backup! Let us follow -!"  
""We can't underestimate these guys, A-4!""  
"Aw com' on! They're just two of them and -!"

Unable to end his word, one of the Bandits already discovered the steady drift of Ace's fighter, eagerly to attack this 'easy' target whilst obeying the laws of physics and trajectory knowledge. His co-pilot felt the inertia rocking her back and forth as Ace performed vicious maneuvers, barely dodging the attacks as well. The attacking Bandit dashed past them at blinding speed, again disappearing into the shrouds once with blindshots firing behind from their secondary turrets.

""Damn!"", another pilot yelled, ""These bogeys are taking quite a beating!""  
"Thanks for info!", Ace ironically snarled while regaining a steady hold of his fighter.

""Alpha-Five reporting: I've performed a scan over one of these Bandits'! It's confirmed - These enemy units are flying with a much tougher armor configuration! Standard bolt ammunition is lesser efficient than usual!""

Forming certain thoughts, Ace reminded himself of the fact that these turanics were not the same raiders pirating throughout amaji space. Noticeable, their high resilience and toughness could easily be explained by the fact of surviving so long in space…

""So, like, WHAT NOW?! Our rounds aren't doing that much of a scratch really!""  
""Only Colonel Manaan's Acolyte and perhaps Ray's fighter may possess ideal penetration with their flechette and hybrid ammunitions – Otherwise, I am transmitting targeting data for specific weak spots to your gunner co-pilots! Targeting computers with the appropriate data should allow better chance of success!""  
""Sounds great!"", another co-pilot responded.

""Alpha-Four!"", the second-in-command announced, ""Change of plan! I don't know why the Colonel is rushing ahead like this but we're going to stick to our mission – Support the Colonel and Ray at once! We'll provide cover while you three '_swing high_' for Rocksteady! We'll follow asap!""  
"No need in telling me that twice, sir, wilco! We're on it!", Ace replied, understanding the code that he was going to have to support the Colonel's bomb run. Having no other choice but to follow the signature left by Kaydaana and Ray's fighters, Ace locked the navigation scanners on the path. Spinning away from the dangers, the hiigaran fighter immediately attained an intercept course, hoping to be able to catch up.

_Her body began to sense a rush passing through her. Time was flowing much faster as images and memories of 'Kadesha's Ark' revealed themselves._  
Cycles passed, and with it great tragedies as we journeyed across the forsaken dark sea. Though lost, the remaining emulators forced to excel their souls, hoping to ever find the true path to Rahji. The synod and the triumvirate, consisting of wise and elder of our belief, sifted all bibles of our ancestry and their knowledge of the kadesh, only finding an indication of indefinite patch of stars amidst the eternity.  
Realms existed beyond her embrace… hostile unclean realms, child. Those were known as Turan, the treacherous Tobaari and Osirians and many more. Distrust rose. However, as we continued, we have brought bloodshed to those who dared to end our songs – but also those, that held knowledge for our pilgrimage. My soul still bears fear when these tales recall… for these mirror the hatred within our blood, reflecting the image of the sects that attempted to cleanse all of us.  
Such frightening thoughts lead to remorse, remorse led to sorrow and greater conflicts under our equals. Due to our belief, we emulators began to learn over time that not all beings are of unclean thought. We have brought great death upon a certain culture that possessed vital knowledge and the possibility of seeding a new evolved generation of emulators. The synod and the triumvirate denied sharing our belief… which led to the assimilation of knowledge…  
While these new emulators evolved vaguely, they never excelled to the potential of the blessed generation we once loved and lost. I am one of these 'lesser blessed' born, child – but as of now, eldest of emulator.

The emulator that sung the tale of 'Kadesha's Ark' began to attract Aira's soul, luring her velvet eyes to a far distant dot among many. Her eyes were too weak, but her soul distinguished that it was not a star but many stars hidden within an embrace her people have sought for so many cycles… years. The distant embrace… the Sanctuary of Rahji… myriads of light years away… and yet, it was _in reach_.

At last… The triumvirate and the synod, the visions of emulators and many other 'enlightened' of Kadesha, have finally found a guiding light and the path to his sanctuary. But our greatest trial stood before. As the last stages of our journey to Rahji took place, the triumvirate discovered a troublesome fact.  
The kadeshi and the sects of the Garden would never understand or follow enduring peace of our belief if 'Kadesha's Ark' were to return without _evidence_. In sight of this problem, the triumvirate discovered within the ancient bibles that our people needed to find Kadesha's Tear that was left for her lost love. Other certain emulators and I have dreamt visions of the Tear's existence… The _truth_. We may have found Rahji… at last… but…

Aira dropped her shoulders. Knowing what the emulator was about to say, she knew that the kadeshi seekers had no choice but to flee from this world… back into the hand of death waving within the Garden of Kadesh.

…never were we to receive his embrace – not without 'Kadesha's Tear'. We have survived for so long… for so many cycles and generations… and yet, our journey was threatened to fail. We have discovered aggressive unclean cultures exploiting… forcing the triumvirate and the synod to leave Rahji's sorrow for the sake of our people. Despite the onslaught of the unclean, I bear great fear for my brethren… Our return to our homeworld would bring us to the end, child.  
Our return would lead us to the cleansing death by the sects… for the triumvirate is assured that the sects have prevailed for all these cycles. Never could our people survive without the embrace of our beloved sorrows.

As the words of the majestic emulator ended, the flow of time began to synchronize with reality. Aira's surroundings slowly returned into the hateful onslaught upon her people at the far edge of the M'randara Star System, also truly known to her as Rahji. Beams and explosions, hundreds of thousands of ships battling each other and voices of hatred and death and ongoing echoing songs of war once again filled the enveloping skies. To this moment, Aira's fear began to rush through her. Kadeshi were dying with each second and rushing beat passing by.

Penetrating the walls of gas, the charged bolts violently struck great damage upon her target than before. However, the target still remained intact whilst being chased by the overhasty manaani pilot. This chase was still not over. Despite the success of the swapped ammunition of choice, Kaydaana angrily pursued her target further.

"We ain't through yet! Git back here an' fight, fool!"  
""C-Colonel Manaan!"", the slightly disrupted but familiar voice of Evoria, Ace's co-pilot, echoed into her ear, ""Disengage target!""  
"Wha-?! Hey, I'm the **CAG** here – So shaddup and -!", she yelled back, but then paused.

Being only a single moment behind the enduring Bandit, both emerged into the lesser dense sphere of gas surrounding the main target. Kaydaana's hesitation led to the fact that she had discovered the gigantic mass catapult vessel... however, it was even more the symbols of far away enemy units approaching from several perimeters of the catapult.  
Her visor immediately revealed separate small groups of known corvette configurations, all hostilities focusing their acquisition on the hiigaran signatures. Turning away from the damaged Bandit, it fled from its chaser.

"Damn it! That Bandit must have dropped a distress signal after all!", Ace shouted. At least he and his co-pilot were able to catch up with the two.  
"But how?! This nebula was supposed to -?!", Evoria asked.  
"We're underestimating these punks! They've been in this mess for frakking ages!"

""Stop yer talkin'! Awright, awright – Lettin' the damn bogey run fer his life! But we're goin' fer somethin' NOW! Evy – I want targitin' support for mah _delivery_!""

"But Colonel, it is too risky to be firing from this position! Now that they know we are coming, they'll track the launch and take down the package before impact!"  
""Who said I was gonna fire from here, eh?!""

Evoria lifted her view to the gigantic vessel far ahead, spotting all the fluctuating symbols of enemy patrols surrounding it.  
"Y-You want us to drop in there?! With all of that defense up in the way, knowing we're comin'?!"  
""I don't care a damn what's in the way! We're goin' **IN**! Do as I say! Ray - Hubby, git on mah six and follow me! I'm fed up with these sonova guns – and now that I have this package fer them, I'm not gonna pull outta here without delivereh! Evy, you tag 'em, I bag 'em!'""

""Understood, Manaani."", Ray confirmed in his usual short manner. He did not even seem to question Kaydaana's mad intention of assault at all.

"Wha- Hey, stop calling me 'Hubby'!", Ace yelled to Kaydaana for calling him by an embarrassing nickname, "Told you only my mother is the only one in this frakking galaxy allowed to call me like that! For frakk's sake, we don't have the backup to get in and out!"  
""Shut yer mouth and stick to mah tail - I'm yer mother now, fool…""

However. One question remains, child. A young emulator and I have expressed a bizarre revelation: The confrontation with a kadeshi being of our past that now has become true; a confrontation that would change the fate of all kadeshi. Neither the triumvirate nor the synod wished to this heed our vision of this, but my soul never fell into doubt.  
The vision the young mind and I expressed reflected what the bibles of our ancestry pledged millennia ago. '.. and so says to those who deem Rahji's sorrow. Behold, a lost _emissary_ of the past, held in the hands of unknown, would guide every kadeshi into freedom, beholding what began our destiny, 'The Tear''.

The emulator's voice paused.

The last blood of 'The First', a young emulator blessed by her divinity's 'pristine embrace' long before my time, lost for generations, now found in the hands of unbelievers… guiding them by the will of the Seeker? Have our prayers been heard…?

Aira was overwhelmed by the emulator's words despite the confusion. Indeed, the emulator did see the kadeshi girl as a mystical being in the line of a kadeshi biblical heritage. But how was a weak kadeshi girl supposed to lead these souls into the world of freedom, the homeworld of the kadeshi in terror and turmoil that existed myriads of light years away from their presence?

Alas. The triumvirate and the synod bear great fear of unclean – and despite my will, I fear the wise minds will not heed my call. And yet, these _unclean_ you guide, these heathens, these unbelievers… I sense great love for these people in you, child... _emissary_. Your body and soul trusts them by your free will.

The intentions of her people were clear to her now. The Seekers of Rahji, though finding his embrace after so many generations and centuries of journey and sorrows, had no choice but to return to the enigmatic star gate assembly that was enriched by vast technologies and erected by hardships and willpower, powerful enough to traverse an entire culture of wayfarers through a wormhole to its other end left in the Garden of Kadesh.  
The majestic emulator knew this would be the end of their existence, as the result of total failure through so many centuries in bringing evidence proving the truth of Kadesha's love and the existence of Rahji. The frightening cold grip of space surrounded her again… However, she needed to her soul to prevail.

_Aira's hands tightened both her emblem and the rock symbolizing the 'Tear'_.

The triumvirate and the synod, the seemingly long living wise minds of elders and thus superior spiritual leaders of the Seekers, were convinced that the return to Kadesh must concur, even if this would mean the end of their lives. Despite discovering Aira as of being the emissary, it was perhaps too late to convince them… or could she?

The mistakenly so-called 'nukes' within Kaydaana's Acolyte weapon bay were actually two special heavy tactical fusion warheads. Unlike common the common destructive nuclear warhead used throughout distinct kiithid, the Kiith Amaji Navy nonetheless use these smaller non-radiological warheads with great caution and as last resort against hostiles.

Despite the advanced technological warhead being of 'small' size fitted upon a cruise missile thrust unit, its detonation can wreck **devastating** havoc upon its targeted area, primarily through thermal and kinetic forces generated by the blast.

According to Hailynn's knowledge of Railed Mass Catapults during the briefing before dispatch, Kaydaana was informed that the fusion detonation would disperse all power flowing throughout any side of vessel's conduits, resulting chain-reactions of fusion energy fluxing with the vessels provided power by its core, lastly leading to a destructive force that could possibly lead to serious and severe structural damages, if not the destruction of the vessel, saving the 'Ark' and its people from further losses.

Kaydaana, however, did not really seem to care about the details but seemed much more interested in the fact of deploying anything destructive… and at this moment, she was close to fulfilling her task.

Defensive long range gunfire tried to suppress the approach of the three strikecrafts but failed in landing hits thanks to their small profile. Only Ace and Evoria noted great anxiousness, even though they were trained pilots.

All three fighters struck downwards with blinding speed, then broke the tight formation while having Ray's coned fighter to obliterate the incoming missiles and Ace's fighter precisely painting one of the many outer conduits upon the hulking monstrosity.  
""Lock-on-Target!"", Evoria's voice echoed into Kaydaana's ear, spotting the targeted conduit sounding the acquisition tone. The tension, the speed, the force – All three were thriving the wild-hearted manaani pilot.

"Damn it, Evy – Didn't you say you locked the frakking target already?!", Ace anxiously asked again.  
"Affirmative! It's Colonel Manaan who hasn't fired yet!"  
"Aw, frakk! What the frell is she waiting for?!", he complained, then transmitted, ""COLONEL! I don't know what you're waiting for - just get over with it! We've got hostiles coming for us and there's more on the long range scoop! If we don't make our move, we'll be pinned down!""

Kaydaana ignored Ace's shouting. By now, Ace understood that she was too obsessed about perfecting success. Her rather insane approach was already securing success; unlikely that any of the missiles would be intercepted by enemy fire… but she was simply obsessed of delivering the 'package' in personally…  
_Not yet…_  
More flak bursts and clouds filled her surroundings, some even hit but caused no damage.

"Oh my gods… She's for a close delivery!"  
"She… She's making it through though! You still got that target painted?!"  
"Still acquired!"

Striking below the blanket of proximity explosive grenade-shells, the Acolyte was far too fast for the turrets of the railed catapult vessel to track that now dashed high above the hull.

Confusingly, Kaydaana had to distrust her orientation senses, as they fooled her feeling of flying upwards upon the hulk in space.  
**NOW!**

Both outer pylons simultaneously dispatched two separate bulky cruise missiles that immediately accelerated ahead to the painted target. Elegantly barrel-rolling to the side, the altered fields of her inertia stabilizers forced the Acolyte to break away from the path, floating across and above the gigantic coiled structures. Having no chance of stopping the cruise missiles, all turrets immediately seized operation only a split second after the flash that shortly illuminated the entire vicinity. Just before the flash and the brief loss of communication through interferences, Ace could have sworn he heard vicious laughter.

The chain-reaction surprisingly happened as Hailynn had presumed during the briefing back then. The entire power grid of the starboard rail indeed fluctuated and returned a violent feedback into the inner cores.  
Fabrics of fusion energy rushed passed Kaydaana's Acolyte, leaving it unharmed due to its protective hull and natural physical differences – Minor parts of debris knocked against her hull. Countless sections busted and collapsed, practically all that were connected to that side of the power grid. Rapid burns of energetic discharges on the outer side of the hull immediately distinguished with the coldness of space.

Surprisingly, the turanic forces pulled away, perhaps in fear of suffering greater damages by a possible explosion. However, the presumed core breach did not happen, only leaving the one side of the mass catapult entirely devastated.

Ace knocked his head back upon the seat as he continued to hear the intensively garbled laughter and cheers of the crazed manaani. Her one-manaani-show once again proved how insane those manaani were - Nonetheless, he was glad that she was on **his** side. Stabilizing his fighter he made a short glimpse to the mass catapult vessel.

"Whoooooooaaa…", his voice said from ahead as Evoria shortly took a look at what he saw as well, "Now that was a takedown…".

The appearance of the catapult vessel differed on both side. One side, while not showing activity, remained offline. Power emissions or anything that would reveal power flow left the whole vessel in an entire blackout. The other side was merely devastated, rippled and discharged by the feedback of power and the fusion energy.

"I guess it worked… Well, good-night-Irene…"  
"I don't get it", Ace asked, "Instead of using other heavier weapons, we only drop a pair of fusion 'nukes' and half of that friggin' ship blows up?!"  
"Not 'nuclear'-"  
"What?"  
"It's not nuclear – Just fusion, Ace. That's what happen when fusion energy is combined with the _wrong_ type of power. Mix two things that react and… 'there you have it'. Commander Delixa must have known of this. Either she met such a ship like that long time ago or she studied some heavy advanced Quantum Physics…"

"Honeygunny? Hah… Frell no, she and physics… Yeah ,right. Nah… No really, she was a pilot long time ago. She must've stumbled upon one of these things back then."  
"If I got things correctly, Commander Delixa said that all railguns, no matter of what type or side, require both rails to be powered. Destroying one side anyhow would lead to the immobilization and insufficiently powered fields to catapult mass charges or whatever those punks were throwing on that kadeshi 'Ark'.  
I don't get it all, but I guess she knew that interrupting one side would seize the vessel's artillery slingshot capability for good!"

"Man, Honeygunny Hailey keeps surprising me! Guess we're gonna live this through after -"

""WHAAAAAAT?!"", Kaydaana's voice yelled throughout the commline with a much garbling interference.

Suddenly, the undamaged port side rail of the mass catapult vessel began to charge energy, generating fields of magnetic forces upon its rails. Shocked by the occurrence, Evoria desperately looked upwards, as their fighter flew 'upside-down', having the mistakenly crippled vessel slowly altering its aim.

"F-Frakk! Picking up several magnetometric fields all over the ship!"  
"What?! NO WAY! How can that be?! That ship blew the side of its rails into space! How -"  
"No idea! But my readings are not LYING! It's still alive! The port rails are still charging despite starboard being dead! I'm not picking any signatures on that destroyed side!"

Ace threw his view to the vessel again. Did those turanics find a way to compensate or were they simply risking a shot that could probably backfire?  
"I don't have the slightest clue what the frell is going on but it's altering its aim – probably correcting the trajectory for another shot on 'Ark'!", Evoria yelled ahead.

""Manaan! Colonel Manaan!"", Ray's voice suddenly yelled over the commline, surprisingly in a much louder and warning tone for the first time, ""MANAAN!""

Kaydaana however did not respond at all.  
Throwing her views back and forth at both sides, she was still overwhelmed by the occurrences of the vessel charging its rails for a catapult launch. Shells of ruptured armor and hull plates crushed or levitated into space as the fields were generated, but that did not seem to stop the vessel from charging its rails. However, the fields began to interrupt Kaydaana's entire sensory systems, but she was already distracted by what was happening.  
Though it seemed as if Hailynn was successfully right about causing fusion reactions… she nonetheless underestimated the durability of these turanic vessel. Their ships could take the great beating, be crippled anyhow… and they would still be operational.

Before her angered mind was able to form another thought, she began to recognize Ray's heavily garbled voice shouting for her attention, somewhat warning her of something that was coming straight for her from dead-ahead. Spotting a thin black trail of smoke throughout the thin yellow haze of dust and gas, Kaydaana's green eyes followed the trail… until they ended at an object darting straight for her… The familiar heavily damaged turanic she had chased before 'Bandit'!

Her breath stopped at once, her body remained frozen. What was happening to her? She tried to move but she did not move a muscle.  
Scared by the occurrence and discovery, she was stunned by astonishment… but even more by the fact that she was caught…

…**off guard**…

"!"

Kaydaana was caught by surprise.

Mercilessly taking advantage of the heavy hiigaran interceptor that hesitated to return fire, the rotary barrel of the damaged 'Bandit' began to spin, followed by slow but powerful flashes. At this point, Kaydaana recognized that the enemy's weaponry was not of mass driver technology, but of projectile shells, easily recognizable by the double burst flashes.  
While the uses of projectile weaponry in space tend to be antique, never was one to underestimate the shear devastation it would bring along.

Having no chance of evasion, Kaydaana was forced to accept her fate.  
She had no fears. The blazing shells were coming in straight for her.

Her pupils shrunk; her senses sharpened to its extreme, "Yah won t'is one… punk… Make yer move…", she quietly whispered, obviously congratulating the cunning foe of this attack, "Take yer shot… but mark mah words… Yah miss killing me… an' yah won't survave it..."  
It did not take a second until the heavy shells struck upon the Acolyte as the 'Bandit' flew past the side. Alerting tones blazed from both sides of her ears, followed by the violent impacts upon her craft that swung the ship to the left side. Each hit gave shook the entire fighter as the force of kinetic power unleashed itself. Another heavy round smacked the other side of the Acolyte's bay, abruptly pushing her body ahead intensively. However, these hits were not as serious as the last shell that critically struck one of the few critical weak spots of the strikecraft.

Within a single moment, one impact shattered the entire cockpit, throwing countless parts at first against, then away from her. The frontal marginal section of the cockpit immediately ruptured as the impact penetrated it, most of the shattered parts subsequently decompressed into space.

Ace, Evoria and Ray witnessed the burst of oxygen torn into space, leaving a seemingly lifeless drifting Acolyte at high speed. Ray immediately broke the formation, diving down to the partially destructed vessel below.

"Ace! She's not responding!", Evoria's yelled behind Ace.

His co-pilot frequently called for Kaydaana to report-in but did not receive any answer. What worried him more was the fact that the other turanic hostiles have regrouped, including the more likely tougher corvette hulks. Spotting a shockwave blast far below striking through at the bow of the huge vessel, it seemed as if the siege catapult once again launched another devastating shot upon the fleeing kadeshi titan. Observing the situation, he wondered if this nightmare was ever going to end.

**- Confessions -**

_The stunning burns upon Aira's skin distracted her consciousness with agonizing pain. The pain was so intense that her attempt of screaming failed. She vainly fought to uphold her concentration. Unfortunately, the spiritual link between her mind and the majestic emulator began to deteriorate – obviously caused the burning rashes spread among her arms. Reality was tearing her away._

Aira suddenly awoke from the deep trance, finding herself again within the chaotic bridge with many voices erratically screaming comments back and forth. Much excitement and awe filled the surrounding area. The air was warm and thick; so thick that she even had slight difficulties with breathing. The kadeshi girl desperately examined her arms, still sensing weak sources of burning pain on her skin but surprisingly found nothing but sweat shimmering upon her skin. Aira was not sure if her mind was playing games on her until the shouts, rumbles and alerting sounds caught her attention. The bridge's artificial lighting flickered many times.

"I DID AS YOU SAID, HAILYNN!", Fenna shouted from ahead.  
"WE'VE INTERCEPTED THE PLASMA ATTACKS!"

The battered 'Vjel-Amaj' rotated and acquired a position next to several kadeshi vessels while leaving three smoking trails caused by the volatile green entropic compounds on the right side. Despite the energized armor and natural reactions of nimble cruiser reacting to the violent energies, invasive heat was beginning to leak into the ship among the three spots. Obviously, the 'Vjel-Amaj' saved several ships by intercepting the devastating plasma attacks but was now in danger of hazardous influences.

Discovering three blinking regions on the mainframe of the ship, several operatives became aware of the dangerous threat.

"COMMANDER! THERMOLOGICAL PENETRATION THROUGH STARBOARD!", a support operative suddenly announced, "G-Gods! Heat waves are PENETRATING decks three, twelve and thirteen – starboard sections!"

"DAMN IT!", Hailynn yelled, being slightly knocked from her seat, "Just stay calm! The armor will adapt to the heat soon! Just… just…!"

The ferocious onslaught already entered a critical phase. Several vaygr and its cunning allies breached through several arcs of the kadeshi defense lines. There were thousands of thousands of kadeshi vessels; however the defenses were now stretched beyond the entire fleeing convoy within the nebula's low density corridor, leaving many opportunities of attack for the vaygr triad.

The battle developed into disadvantage for the kadeshi and the single amaji cruiser that desperately attempted to support where it could. All arcs were filled with skirmishes of various strikecrafts. Every now and then, hostile group of turanics would swiftly breach through the lines, wreck havoc and then return – only to lure the kadeshi chaser into ambushes of vaygr laser corvettes.

Hailynn made a painful moan before rearranging herself on her seat. She had to be careful. Due to the slow return of pain and fatigue, her seat harnessers were intensifying the pain whenever the ship expressed greater impacts. Her short gaze upon the status display of the 'Vjel-Amaj' revealed disturbing issues spread among the entire ship. All but internal hull sectors revealed orange to red sectors, fields blinking representing thermological waves and sections that suffered under technical issues.  
The ship had already gone through so much trouble and yet it was still holding together.  
A thought deep within Hailynn's mind kept warning her that the ship was nonetheless slowly dying... but she begged inwardly, hoping it would survive longer. However, she was getting angry. The hostile triad forces were using every single advantage of devastating weaponry. The cutting beams of the vaygr laser corvettes were superior to the mass of kadeshi pods, cunning turanic strikecrafts would hurl missiles with high yield nuclear warheads and the disciplined taiidan fighters would surgically strike the sectors with least defense.

Up to now, the battle-weary 'Vjel-Amaj' kept its ground. Being the only vessel that was closest to one of the countless vulnerable arcs of the unarmed convoy, the amaji cruiser used its sophisticated assets of electronic warfare to counter and disrupt missile attacks of all kinds.

"Tactical, s-status on the kadeshi! Were they hit?!", she requested.  
"Um… We're fine, Hailynn, thanks for askin'…", Orelis snitched quietly to himself whilst noticing that Hailynn was showing more interest for the kadeshi's wellbeing.

Ignoring Orelis' remark, one of the tactical operative replied back to her, "W-We intercepted the plasma blasts, Commander Delixa! The kadeshi cruisers however are unharmed! They're safe…"

"Getting several casualty reports from the starboard section! Thermal readings are beyond resistible levels! Oh-Oh my gods…", a female operative cried. The thermal values were indeed high… lethal for any being that could not survive boiling blood or worse…  
"Hex-Armor plating is near to completing adaption! Thermal radiation has contaminated several starboard sections but further development is condemned…", Zann announced.

The bridge silenced shortly, knowing that it was too late for the crewmembers that were possibly at the mentioned sections at the wrong time. The situation did not leave much time for sorrows as the minor impacts of rockets woke the crew from their thoughts.

Hailynn's recently-developed plan backfired – She totally underestimated the collateral effects. The task of being a commander and a strategist craved much of her strength and common sense. Unthoughtful _quick_ thinking due in response to evolving life-threatening dangers led to consequences. Knowing that the plasma accelerator platforms, consisting of mobile taiidani corvettes fitted with hybrid containment rails, were detected by observatory and other surveillance operatives hours ago, Hailynn knew that they were going to strike at the worst moment.

Again, her long experience and confrontations with this sort of devastating weaponry warned her. Massive bolts of entropic plasma would viciously volatilize any component vulnerable to its supercharged status; its violent thermal radiation would contaminate and eradicate the outer and inner life of any being within the ship.

But it was that moment when Hailynn heard the warning of the operatives, warning that the plasma would definitely melt and penetrate its way through to the nearby crippled Kadeshi Needleship that would suffer a devastating core breach… surely to tear others into death with its explosion. Before the worst happened, Hailynn commanded the ship to position itself before the plasma attack, knowing that the 'Vjel-Amaj' was indeed capable of withstanding such attack – at least to a certain point before adapting to the thermological force.

Unfortunately, all of her efforts were suddenly overshadowed by the next strikes upon 'Kadesha's Ark' and the small group of kadeshi vessel the amaji cruiser had desperately tried to protect. Despite all efforts of defensive electronic warfare, there was little to no chance in affecting the random artillery barrages that sliced this time through several adjacent kadeshi ships, rupturing the rather weakly armored hulls with ease.  
The Kadeshi Needleship received most of the critical hits upon the engineering segment, a commonly targeted area by the enemy triad. Amaji operatives discovered that reactor and conduit units of the kadeshi vessel becoming unstable; threatened to catastrophically breach within their vicinity. Fortunately, fate granted some time for the dying vessel to break away from the fleet before the well-known explosion resembling failure illuminated the bridge yet again.

"N-NO FRAKKING WAY!", Hailynn yelled, "FRAKK YOU… FRAKKING VAYGR!", and slammed her bruised fist several times upon the side of her seat. All efforts in even saving a single kadeshi ship failed again… again and again. The kadeshi were dying. Wherever she tried to do something to intervene, fate would play its mischievous game on her.

Fenna anxiously engaged a hasty evasive maneuver, praying not to crash into the various chunks of wreckage filling the course. All screens flickered and only gave short glimpse on the obstacles filling in the path.

"FOR FRAKK'S SAKE, WHY IS THAT CATAPULT STILL OPERATIONAL?!"  
"Hailynn, CALM DOWN! Fenna! Get this ship back under control and try to plot a course out of here!", Orelis yelled to her from the other side of the bridge who shortly replied No shit!, "Hailey - You're forgetting that we sent our pilots against the odds! This is not working at all! We better get out of here! If they are still alive, we need to extract them and -"

"I'M NOT LETTING THEM GET AWAY WITH THIS, ORELIS!"

More kadeshi vessel suffered critical hits caused by vaygr corvettes and taiidani strikecrafts assaulting from another angle. The lower and farthest sector of defense of the convoying fleet was collapsing.

"Hailynn! Orelis!", Fenna called loudly from ahead, "We're slowly entering this – this… _PLACE_!"

Fenna wanted to engage an escape route but was forced to continue the flight along with the fleet.

Taking a short look ahead, Orelis discovered that the entire fleet and the amaji cruiser were entering the vicinity of the humongous star gate and the purely vast relic structures surrounding it. The site was just as majestically huge and mysterious as the kadeshi titan itself. Several segments slowly rotated, orbiting the open path to gate's center.

Quan and Kenta also stared upon these relic hulks in astonishment, as both recognized ancient similarities with progenitor architecture, understanding that these kadeshi indeed have come across progenitor technology. They already noticed that the gate was dispatched and assembled by 'Kadesha's Ark' at first, but none of the two ever expected it to be of progenitor heritage. Both astronomers had been documenting everything since the first confrontation in this nebula; this discovery was going to be the most groundbreaking if they were to survive.

Becoming aware of a serious fact, Orelis noticed that they were dreadfully close to the _deadline_. The main gate itself was still many kilometers away, but the kadeshi titan and its convoying fleet was slowly but surely closing in on its destination. Thus, with time was running out, the plan of supporting and convincing the kadeshi not to activate the gate was endangered to fail.  
Orelis reminded himself of Hailynn's warning that considered great fear of the vaygr and their hideous allies following the kadeshi through the wormhole to the Kadeshi Nebula.

One fact still rung in his head: The entire situation however was already out of hand!

Quan wove his hand, signaling for the commander's attention, "Commander Orelis, sir, seven heavy kadeshi combat pods have surrounded our vessel and are repelling the hostile units!"

Checking the main screens, both Hailynn and Orelis discovered battle-weary kadeshi pods that maintained steady positions among the sides, firing controlled bursts upon daring corvettes and fighter-bombers.

"Wha- What is this about now?!", he asked but Quan shrugged.  
"My people…", the soft accented voice of the girl from above sounded, "M-My people have sensed that we are in great danger. The sentinels wish to protect us!"

For the first time in a very long while, Hailynn felt slight success,  
"Y-You made it, Aira! You must have convinced them that we are on their side!"  
Aira blushed slightly, but cowered together again as the ship suffered another missile attack upon its armor.

"'bout friggin' TIME they got the damn message… Guess that old man – or WHOEVER he or they are – noticed our work here!", Orelis cursed, "The first good news in ages if you ask me - but they're too late for it! We're going to get screwed if we don't pull out!"  
"We can still handle it!"

"'Handle it'?! Having you noticed that pretty much 'TARFU' here - H-Hailynn, are you out of your mind?! They keep tossing more and more hostile units into the theater of war, no matter how many frakking ships those kadeshi are blowing away!"  
"Casualty reports coming in and -", somebody mentioned but the surrounding voices were too loud.  
"You better listen to what your CO, Delixa -!", Pethera mentioned from Orelis' side, but was immediately assaulted by Hailynn's harsh respond.

"SHUT THE FRAKK UP! WHO THE FRAKK ASKED YOU?! YEAH RIGHT – First whine around about this and that – and now you want us to get out of here?! Shut the frakk up!", Hailynn angrily yelled and turned her view ahead, "Fenna, get us back on course to Kadeshi Needleship above our dorsal! We're not through yet with these punks!"

Fenna hesitated, shortly throwing a troubled view at both commanders. Having trembling hands was the least that kept her from fulfilling Hailynn's questionable request. It was already dangerous enough flying next to such a capital ship that was endangered of suffering a core breach. Thanking the gods, Fenna spotted a selected few of openings of retreat revealing themselves – the best chance of getting out of this mess alive, once and for good.  
"Hailynn", Orelis once again called for her attention, "We -!"

"Guys!", the nervous pilot at the helm of the bridge yelled, "B-Big thing coming out of hyperspace – Far ahead!"  
"Big – Oh, just how frakking 'big' would that be?! Details!", Orelis replied while turning his view to Kenta.

His mouth stayed open as he took a look himself. The frontal screens and those of Kenta revealed an immense field generating far ahead, situated several kilometers between the kadeshi fleet and the center of the star gate. The gigantic field slowly slipped away.

"C-Confirmed!", Kenta reported, "Massive hyperspace field confirmed! Running scan for identification – but you can count on it that it's a huge -", she paused, read the first readings and then shrieked, "A… A… SUPER-C-Capital vessel… D-D-**DREADNOUGHT**! DREADNOUGHT EMERGING!"  
"Well… good-night-Irene…"

Other operatives and subordinates threw a glimpse at the main screen. The long vessel slowly emerging far ahead of the chaos surrounding the kadeshi fleet crossed the path. Unfortunately, the naked eye was unable to recognize or distinguish anything beyond the haze of gas and dust hindering the sight.

"Dreadnought?! But if that is a Dreadnought – and there is only one dreadnought known…", an operative noted.  
"Is it… Is it the Progenitor Dreadnought… of the Hiigaran Navy?!", somebody dared to ask from behind.

"It got to… IT IS THEM! The Hiigarans! ALL RIGHT! Th-They are HERE! THEY HAVE FOUND US! WE'RE SAVED! _Woohooooo_", somebody cheered surprisingly.

Groups of operatives suddenly cheered joyfully, sounding the noise of joy that made others raise their hands victoriously. Within a single moment, triumph and delight prospered. At last, the prayers for freedom and help finally were heard.

"We made it!", a logistic operative cheered again, "Amaji High Command must have requested serious support from the Hiigaran Navy for a S&R operation to find us in this friggin' nebula! Haha, at last! Damn you vaygr – NOW YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT! Bet they're going to make a run for it!"

The wave of cheering good mood went further, but as others felt relieved, Aira shook her head several times, shouting words of great worry and fear.

"What the…", Orelis said as he noticed the girl crying for their attention, "Hey, what's wrong, Aira?! That ship is one of ours!"  
Aira stopped, throwing him one of those frightened glazes he had seen many times before. Orelis moved his view several times back and forth between the concealed dreadnought on the screen and the girl that hesitated to speak further… lastly dropping his shoulders, "No way… Aww, frakk, no…"

That cold shiver struck Hailynn again.

The kadeshi girl felt the presence of the hideous hulking body that levitated far ahead, crossing the long path of 'Kadesha's Ark' and its endangered fleet. The Super Capital Ship slowly moved ahead as the last fields of energy collapsed and whipped upon its dense hull. The _hatred_ presence… it was crushing her…

"People of Amaj…", Aira's voice trembled, "The sh-ship is not your brethren you sought for! It… It is…"  
"_No… Aira…_", Hailynn quietly whispered to herself, "_The vaygr… They couldn't have… The war is over! H-How could they have!_"  
Quan suddenly turned around, "Alert! The hyperspace fallout signature is HOSTILE! VAYGR!"

As if the crew did not have enough problems, Kelsea's voice shouted from his other side, "Commanders! Emergency broadcast captured - Coming from our strikecraft units! A one-way transmission, condition 'urgent'!"

Hearing her call, all arguments and yelling seized, making it possible for all to listen to the emergency transmission dispatched. Though the transmission was garbled, the codec filters still allowed it to be understandable:  
""Alpha-Six to damn it! A-Six to base! Hope you getting this! Situation 'Countash'! I repeat, Situa-ffshhs'COUN-TASH'! Package delivered by Alpha-One, She swung high but – However, it was insufficient! 'Rocksteady' scratched but is still intact! 'Rocksteady' vvshfhhftill INTACT! We've been compromised! OPFOR is overwhelming! Just make sure the Colonel 's still on course for frakk's sake! – Tail! TAIL! 'Vee-Jay', extraction is critical! I repeat, EXTRACTION-IS-CRITICAL! Group is retreating to designated Rendezvous Point: Baker! BAKERRRRHHRHZ! Base –Alpha-RAY and A-Four are M-I-A; Alpha-Five Killed-in-Action! RAY attempts in rescuing Alpha-One succeeded but his unit has suffered greater damage and is out of control – Alpha-Four also MIA… pre-presumed KIA! We will be emerging from dust cloud sector any moment – Most likely closest to BAKER! MIAs are going to be popping out from elsewhere! Hope to see you there, 'Vee-Jay' – Alpha-Six, out!""

"Wha – What did he say?!", an operative asked, "I only understood the half of what he said!"

"We'll be there, Arojino! Hang tight there! Military coding and slang, Operative Elaiko! Alpha-Six reported that they have bombed the Mass Catapult Vessel but the damn thing seems to have withstood the surgical strike bomb run and is still able to wreck havoc! Ray and another unit are missing, too – along with one fighter killed! Oh, frakking frell - That does it!", Orelis shouted to the others, "We've got to pull out of here, ASAP! Helmswoman – Attain a direct course to the designated extraction point 'BAKER' they chose!"

The load fell off from Fenna's mind when she heard his order, "No need in tellin' me that twice, Boss! I'm on it – I mean, sir!", she replied, but was once again told to hold back the commence.

"NO – FORFEIT ORDER, HELMSWOMAN FENNA! WE'RE NOT GOING TO PULL OUT OF THIS!", Hailynn intervened angrily. Again, the ship rumbled and rocked back and forth, obviously colliding with busted wrecks and debris floating in the adjacency.  
"Hey, we ain't INVINCIBLE, Hailynn!", Fenna barked at her.

"Hailynn! We can't argue on this one! You're losing the hang of our situation! Haven't you seen our damn status screens?!", the grim officer yelled to the wrecked hiigaran woman.

The angered hiigaran shot upwards, ignoring the striking pain whilst fighting against the ship's impacting movements. It was that situation again; the situation that reminded everybody of the moment Hailynn suddenly assaulted the fellow crewmembers. It was already surprising that Orelis approached her. The last time he did so, he received a painful blow to the groan. Both officers now threw arguments of the current situation at each other - Hailynn defending the urge of valiantly staying at the side of the kadeshi in this somewhat devastating conflict while Orelis fought for the sake of survival… if not, sanity.

"WE CAN'T LET THE VAYGR GET THE OVERHAND OF THIS, ORELIS!"  
"CAN'T?! THEY ALREADY HAVE IT! OH COME ON, HAILYNN, THIS WAR IS OVER FOR US!"

The two aggressively argued further as Orelis approached her; soon, both were face-to-face, even forcing the ex-captain to leave the two to decide on their own.

"The vaygr are not invincible – I know it! THEY WILL SUCCEED! OVER MY DEAD BODY!"

Orelis shook his head and threw his left hand towards the main screens, "Kaydaana and the others are in deep shit! The vaygr and all those other assholes out there are tearing us and the kadeshi apart! Your heroic leadership in honor, Commander Hailynn Delixa, but we're OUTNUMBERED, OUTGUNNED and practically WINCHESTER'ED!  
Our defensive capabilities are practically down to zero and we've just tossed our ship right in blasts of heavy plasma salvos that is now burning us down – not to mention the many attacks we've intercepted in that manner! ECM and all other units of defense are running hot and won't hold for long either! And if this crap goes on, that armor is gonna fails on us if we lose any sort of power supporting the containment fields of the armor – AND THAT WILL HAPPEN – AND IF IT HAPPENS… More of the crew will die! I don't want to be in Engineering right now with Chief Brogan screaming around like a maniac!"

Hailynn bruised hands curled around the collar sides of Orelis' uniform, which was already warning enough to him that she was damn-right obsessed and determined about her standpoint, "We've come so far, Orelis! Pulling back and leaving fate to just demolish the kadeshi?! We've been pulling away from dangers all the time – I am NOT going run anymore, Orelis! I will stand our grounds! I will NOT RETREAT! I WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN! I WON'T LET THE VAYGR SUCCEED! I CAN'T LET IT… H-HAPPEN!", Hailynn's voice began to tremble, "I-I CANNOT… cannot let that… h-happen… We can't allow them to…"

Orelis threw both of his hands upon the sides of her shoulders and tightened his grips, causing more wrinkles upon them.

Hailynn started to become aware of the fact that she was suffering under her own obsession – It was that egocentric personality… fighting the battle between her and vaygr. Her words proved that she was only talking about herself, lacking thought or consideration of the ship and her crew.  
"Hailey…….. _It's over._"

Hailynn shook her head. She wanted to continue, but the odds stood against her. A short view around revealed the battered bridge crew being on Orelis' side of opinion; a moment of shock, since she had totally forgot about the rest of the crew desperately trying to keep the ship alive.  
But it was the truth _that one side_ in her hated so much. The personality faded away… Hailynn's common sense reminded of her own looks: the battered and weary appearance of a hiigaran woman resembling what the crew and 'Vjel-Amaj' was… A living wreck in dire need of salvation and deliverance.  
Flares of explosions lightened the bridge, then dissipated, throwing the blanket of shadows again.

"The 'Vjel-Amaj' proved herself", Orelis spoke slowly to her, "– but we've done what we can. We've proven our self to what the Kiith Amaj stands for, Hailynn, the pride. The pride, Hailynn, let it not end here… not yet…"

Captain Quenton Sobaan nodded silently. The entire situation and development was a trail from his point of view. The common sense of a supreme commander would normally take responsibility, but he and others respected the way of his kiith, as of being an 'observer'. Nonetheless, both Hailynn and Orelis have coped the most blatant and difficult test that would always test the crew and commanding officers – or at least to a certain point.

Most likely, a selected few of the present bridge crew knew of military conducts. Those who knew, such as the captain, knew that all was actually in Orelis' hand.  
Considering military conducts, it was possible for an officer of subordinate rank to absolve a superior officer from responsibility and command until further notice – Generally cause of this would be when the superior officer would cause questionable acts of command.

The sharp-minded captain knew that Orelis was very much aware of this, too – It was his responsibility to actually remove Hailynn from the command, but he refused. Other lower grade officers could have reacted, too, but they also refrained from doing so. They **all** trusted Hailynn – even if her mind and common sense was tainted by questionable acts. Ironically, they all looked up to her, despite herself being what he would call a 'flawed diamond', a strong-willed but imperfectly and ironically fragile persona in one being that stood ground for the righteous and the pride of the Kiith Amaj.

Orelis was talking to her as a military officer and a close friend. He denied removing her from command at the first place – and he continued to refuse doing so now. To this point, Orelis was talking to her, eye-to-eye, hoping she would come back to her senses – even if the threat of staying in this misery was still possible if she wished so.

Alas, it took her a significant amount of time to calm down and accept the truth – but as Orelis said to her, they did not have much of a choice – It was over.

Hailynn quietly took a step to the back, and then sat down upon the sophisticated seat, obviously accepting his word. Orelis felt surprised of talking her out of this, though not showing a reaction other than turning his view to the bow of the bridge, "Helmswoman Fenna, proceed with my order: Course to Extraction Point 'Baker'. We are going to extract our units and get out of here. Period."

"Y-Yes, sir…"  
Fenna conducted the course of retreat.  
Aira's senses noticed a familiar voice echoing in her mind, confusing the girl as she looked around the bridge as if the voice was next to her.

"C-Commanders? Commanders!", Kelsea sounded from the side of the bridge while holding her hand on her headset, "There is that person speaking to us again – over a secluded frequency… She's talking in a foreign language – kadeshi, I guess."  
"Wha- who?! Why us?"  
"No idea, sir, but her signal is directed to us. One of those kadeshi people Delixa spoke with a few hours ago, Commander Orelis - the woman that seemed to be convinced of our intentions from the start. I will set her broadcasted speech on bridge speakers."

The kadeshi woman spoke in the kadeshi language, but as the voice spoke, Aira translated the speech with a clear voice:  
""Heathens of Amaj… No… – Protectors of the Emissary. My soul has been 'listening' to your speech among each other through the emissary being, Aira. Heed my voice… 'Her Divinity' is bleeding essence. The 'Unbelievers' amasses our path. Their power intrigues death upon us. We will never fall from our belief. Never will we leave side of her divinity and our devotion. We are of no choice, People of Amaj, it is our destiny to return to the Garden of Kadesh to face our true conviction and end of our praying song. Alas, thy protects the essence and soul of the Emissary, the being 'Aira'. The Triumvirate… The Synod… accepts eternal _Blood Truce_ with the People of Amaj, for which thy begged with great fear to her divinity.  
We… The Seekers… thank the People of Amaj – You are not heathens… You are not the 'Unbelievers' that strikes death upon us with hatred blood. But now it is I, High Emulator of Kadesha, who beseeches you: Flee. Flee of these 'Unbelievers'… Our end may near here before our conviction in the Gardens of Kadesh – but it is the song of Aira that must NEVER end. She is the 'last'. Her soul must prosper before our end occurs… For the sake of Rahji...!""

Tears ran down the girl's eyes. It was a confession. Her people understood that they were neither going to succeed nor reach any side of the gate alive – but even if there was least chance of survivalo, their death by conviction – as of the religious kadeshi laws - would still being waiting for them in the Garden of Kadesh. Both of her hands curled tightly, nearly cutting the palms with her own nails.

"Man... Those kadeshi know how to 'hack', too...", Orelis snarled.

Nearly thirty minutes later.  
Leaving three trails of smoke, the poorly shaped 'Vjel-Amaj' evasively managed to cross through the fleeing convoy of kadeshi vessels. The flight through these zones was merely as devastating and frightening as the moment of the first encounter with the vaygr. It seemed as if the amaji cruiser was making it through as it avoided further confrontations.  
However, the chaos was not over as Hailynn seemed to be having another furious argument with another executive officer… again.  
"ARE-YOU-OUT-OF-YOUR-MIND, BROGAN?! 36 JUMPS?! THIRTY-frakking-SIX jumps just to get back to Amaji Prime…?!"

"Distance to Rendezvous Point: 'Baker', approximately twenty kilometers! At this speed , we'll be there in no time!", Fenna shortly noted to the others, "I just hope our people are hanging in there!"

The ship frequently changed its course, noticeable by the shifting force caused by the inertia field adapting to each change. Surprisingly, the hasted escape through the convoy proved itself easier than expected.

"Keep it going, Fenna, you are doing well!", Velle shouted from far behind, complimenting the inexperienced pilot.  
Despite the all-out war, the cruiser made its way through to the rim of the convoy; somewhat gaining a moment of peace as it dodged bypassing ships, skirmishes and fields of wreckage.

Chief Brogan's voice furiously argued back to Hailynn from her shoulder unit, ""You heard right, Commander! 36! 36 secured short jump stops over a timeframe of seven weeks, at least – and I am not going to negotiate! Don't tell me I have to remind you about the ship's jump drive capabilities being seriously instable?! The nacelles won't handle the stress!""

"SEVEN WEEKS! That is inacceptable, Brogan! We only needed a day just to fly here and -", at the same moment Hailynn stopped her speech; she remembered about the certain facts of space travel.

""I could care less about that, Commander! Are you forgetting that we have to maintain a quantum wavefront **against** the 'current' of Hyperspace to get back home?! Not to mention the severe damage to the jump drives caused by that short jump that was planned to be a long one… There are some laws of 'Astrophysics' you are sort of ignoring here! If we brute-force the ship in jumping against the force of Hyperspace, that fragile coil unit will burst and we'll be frakked up for good somewhere in deepspace! Let's not forget that we still have these plasma burns to take care of!""

Hailynn's grip tightened even more around the radio transmitter, "BROGAN! We've been far too long in this mess! FAR TOO LONG! I've promised the crew to get us out of this mess…"  
She paused. Several gazes looked upon her. Worried ones, but it was the eyes of Pethera that caught Hailynn's attention. Pethera's face only remained firm, without any sign of emotion – and yet, she knew that she would have no way of intervention on Hailynn's decision of retreat.

"… and I'm not going to accept any more delays! We do happen to have one last way of jumping, Brogan! The 'Vjel-Amaj' is full of hidden capabilities and potentials! There is a way!"

Her voice revealed some enthusiasm for a change.

Brogan pondered, ""… sigh Fine… and just WHAT would that be?! We're all ears down here, Commander…""

"Achieving full stellar navigation will still remain priority! We are going to do it the same 'old-fashion-way' of jumping as we did with that last jump – well, with a _slight difference_. Brogan, I want you and your team to prepare a sequenced 'Morovuur Point-to-Point' hyperjump – having all conduit units cycled to the maximum!"  
""W-WHAT?!"", he yelled. Clearly, Hailynn was demanding him to overcharge the hyperjump systems again.

"Hailynn, I'm not an engineer thank goodness but even that sounds insane in my ears!", Orelis noted from ahead, "We did some misguided overcharged jump once already and nearly blew our drives – we better avoid doing _any_ other sort of 'procedure' like that again."

The motion of the ship rocked back and forth for a short moment.

"No, you heard right, you two - but look, we've got to take the obvious seriously! No matter how many secure jumps you'll be planning, Brogan, we'll never… NEVER make it back! That specific coil will breech anyhow!", her determination was as powerful as the sore pain travelling through her body, " The 'Morovuur' procedure is our last resort to get back to the amaji territory! Point-to-Point is an exact sure-shot jump between two points in space, as the damn name says! Old hyperspace test runs used to do it that way; a one-way trip riding on a reliable but dangerous wavefront that will hold together long enough!"

""… 'Long… enough', you say…""

"And just where is the difference between the common hyperjump?!"

She laid her back upon her seat, "Exactly. Long enough. Let me explain further, you two. It's all about something I learned years ago during my navigation training. 'Morovuur' was one of many scientists in some advanced field of quantum physics who developed alongside with Karan S'Jet the exploitation of Hyperspace Travel in the early days of -", she swung her hand several times as she noticed she was swaying off the topic, " – Frakk, nevermind the damn history part. Let's get on with the procedure:  
Part One, achieve the breeching wavefront rift into Hyperspace. Part Two, maintain specific flux fields with separate other supporting fields and conduit units to their **extremes** for approximately five minutes and, Part Three, continuously uphold the enveloping wavefront from dissipating by **frequently** aligning gravity fields until the destination is reached - In other words, some sick and awkward version of a _reversed_ slip-jump. Gravity generation and control was a rare luxury of technology back then, so that way of space travel was dropped when Karan S'Jet discovered a breakthrough in the use of the Hyperspace Core, the first one that was found on Kharak."

After explaining, Hailynn's pause began to attract the looks of other crewmembers again, "– but as usual, this won't be easy. The entire hyperjump procedure won't be that 'simple' like the common jump."

""Pff… 'simple'?!""  
"Everybody – There is a downside to all of this. Even if we make it out of this onslaught, we'd still have one last hurdle to overcome: Hyperspace. Teamwork. Teamwork is the only thing that will keep us alive… but if we fail …", she continued, her words noted dread and fear, "If we fail in maintaining that 'Morovuur Wavefront', Hyperspace will surge the ship…"

"_Surge… the ship_?", Fenna's voice asked from ahead, "What are you talking about?! Never heard of such crap - Everybody knows that when a wavefront collapses, you drop out of Hyperspace! Pretty much how all ships do it."  
"And no, we won't 'fall out of Hyperspace' if it collapses, Fenna! This is not the typical wavefront generated by some hiigaran-manufactured 'Consortium' drive."

"What is this 'surge' then? Ship gets EM-shocked?", another operative curiously asked.  
Hailynn turned her view over to him, "There were reports of such occurrences years ago. Trust me, it's not the ship that is affected by a surge – even though the Hyperspace fabric hits the ship."

Suddenly speaking up, Kenta explained what Hailynn meant by her knowledge as an astronomer, "Commander Delixa is referring to the fabrics of Hyperspace that will have devastating effects upon the ship's interior.

By protocol - and usually -, all primary systems are powered down to avoid any electromagnetic feedbacks occur during the standard jump. However, having several fields active as for that Morovuur procedure, such procedure can backfire, attracting the fabrics of Hyperspace, lastly destabilizing the wavefront, the fields and enveloping the ship. The fabrics will penetrate everything. There are only theories, but certain things are for sure: Organic beings would petrify – and I don't have the slightest clue about the radiation. The ship would continuously float ahead in Hyperspace for another while. Whoever wasn't lucky to die in the first place would..."

Hailynn took word again, "- We have no choice. We are going to do it, but I will need the focus and willpower of everybody! Of observatory…", both Kenta and Quan looked towards Hailynn, who then caught the attention of others she called, "engineering, logistics, Kelsea and her team for internal communication, Aira… every single operative available – for the sake of the kiith, even you, Fenna… You are the one who will have the most strenuous part of this mess… I can't help you…"

"Are you CRAZY?! THAT'S INSANE, HAILYNN! GIVE ME A BREAK!", Fenna yelled at her, obviously aggravated by her words.

"Yes – it is insane… suicidal, but there is more to it. The truth, however, is that if we do it right for **five minutes** – just five minutes-, it will prevent the fields from destabilizing, even preventing us from staying stuck in hyperspace forever too… and would bring us to the desired region, regardless of Hyperspace resistances - and all of that crap it will be throwing against us! Well… maybe not quite… I do have doubts about the last part…"

"Doubts?! More doubts?!", Orelis asked.

"Orelis, it is unlikely that we will be able to maintain the field to the _very end_ – but we'd be safe from a surge at least. Once we are out of the maelstrom, we would surely have to dispose – enough. If things go well, we'd even find ourselves back at Amaji Prime…"

"And what's the 'Worst Care Situation', Hailey?", Orelis questioned her, "Sounds like that is not even the tip of the iceberg – and that's the only thing that interests me about all of this."

"There isn't one really. We only need to maintain the field long enough. We would definitely emerge within amaji space – deadspace, to be precise!!"  
"Well… Deadspace… probably some thousands light years away from home and sanity then. At least away from all of this madness No offense, Aira - but just what makes this different from Brogan's plan again?"

"A single jump we can count on..."

Orelis nodded after a long pause, "Okay… but how we get back if we can no longer jump from then on?"

"We won't be totally crippled. Let us forget about that. We still have a way of getting help."

"And that would be -?"

"Aira.", Hailynn pronounced clearly, adding yet another point to her plan.

"Huh?!"

"Look. Amaji space is still a dangerous place. Dropping off some long range SOS signals for help will make us catch the attention of any hostilities in that region. And by hostilities, you know who I mean."

Orelis turned his view away from her shortly, "sigh Turanic Raiders… Those punks are everywhere…"

"You can bet your 'optimism' that they'll be happy to find a crippled vessel like ours. No matter where we end up, they know how to find anything that sends distress beacons over hyperspace or subspace frequencies – and they WILL find us if we do so."

"But what does the girl have to do with this?"

"The ship is highly advanced, Orelis, it is capable of dropping off a specific signal of distress beyond conventional reach - and Aira is the key. She a lot more than just an 'entity'; She is the one who is able to dispatch this distress signal to the Bentusi that are likely to be operating in hiigaran territory! Nobody but the Bentusi will heed the distress.", Hailynn raised a loose fist, showing some confidence.

"And you're sure they'll hear her?!"

"Yes… if there is one thing I'm sure of is that the Bentusi…", she spoke slowly, looking shortly towards Pethera, "They are always listening…"  
"sigh You know how I hate counting on fate, Hailey…"

""Don't tell me you are going to count on her insane suggestion, Orelis!""  
"Chief. You – no, we – don't have much of a choice anyhow", Orelis mentioned to Brogan, "Hailynn is not only the X-O – She is also a Krin'sa. We are going to do as she ordered. No objections. Understood, Chief?"

The situation did not give Brogan much time of thought, ""This is crazy, bridge – but don't make me responsible for anything if the ship blows up I doubt it would do us the favor… Alright, doing as ordered. Engineering out veeeeep""  
Hailynn stared a long while at Orelis, unsure of being thankful for his recent help. Her attained Krin'sa ranking did seem to be a powerful but fearful one.

Part 6 of x

(narrative voice)  
I am sure you have heard of such tale, adventurer. There are many variations of it. A fox carries a scorpion on his back over the river, being assured that it will not sting him… but alas, the scorpion stings the fox. The fox would ask 'Why did you sting me? We will drown together' – The scorpion would reply 'It is my _nature_'…  
(end of narrative speech)

Outskirts of the conflict zones

Formed by billions of cubic kilometers of gas formation leading like into a tunnel of nowhere, the hazed surroundings of this mysterious passage was filled with myriads of clouds that resembled various forms, many of them floating like colorful mushroom caps upon a gaseous ocean. Varying in density and size, all of these surrounding cloud formations and blankets within the passage not only offered an endless supply for one's imagination in guessing look-alikes, but also offered refuge for practically anything was in need of retreat. In need or not, thousands, if not a million of wrecks and debris by now, fell into these oceans of gas.

Breaking the iconic silence of this beautiful region, the outer sectors of the war was as ferocious as the core of conflict. Flashes of core breaches and other violent nuclear explosions would enlighten the entire region whilst having most of the battered vessels desperately submerging into these shrouds hoping to escape the onslaught and death's reaches.

Among all of the countless situations, one was soon to be resolved – either for the good or the bad. Despite having marginal success against the triad's secluded Mass Catapult vessel, the remaining group of hiigaran fighters struggled with their hasted retreat away from the massive dust cloud.  
Though it is a rule of combat never to underestimate the opposing force, the turanic and taiidani survivors protecting the vessel proven themselves as dauntingly serious threats, determined to tear any foe apart with their combination of cunning military tactics and hideous assaults – assaults of such that had left their mangling scars on every single remaining fighter like a signature. Almost every fighter left trails of smoke and sparks as they dashed ahead, striving through the thinner hazes of gas.

Having no other choice against the overwhelming odds of threats, the hiigaran strike force was forced to retreat from this dust cloud back into the rather open surreal corridor in space – hoping it would make it back to the designated point of retrieval. However, the situation was not cleared yet…

Bolts and projectiles hurled by back and forth at blinding speeds. The hiigaran units were still being suppressed by enemy fire; a much slower but far-reaching group of sturdy turanic artillery corvettes remained at the very edge of the dust cloud border that was now several kilometers away and a single turanic – outright annoying - 'Bandit' at the adjacency of the fleeing hiigaran fighters. The 'Bandit' kept its range from them but still attempted to pick on them.

Noticeable though, there was no sight of _antique_'Triikor' interceptors or any other taiidani assets. It became clear that these turanic pirates were bloodthirsty; enraged by the partial destruction of the Mass Catapult vessel… but that they also were disobediently pursuing the retreating hiigarans as it was likely that the taiidans returned to the vessel within the cloud for protection – The taiidan discipline, obviously.

""Guys, keep a loose and erratic flight! There's another artillery barrage inbound!"", the pilot of Alpha-Six called to the other pilots; a phrase he repeated by each attack. Frequently pushing his pedals, his beaten fighter, though reacting sluggish, altered its heading several times, but frankly, he was actually too overcautious.

""Keep your cool, A-Six – Their artillery are too inaccurate at this range. Just maintain course!"", Alpha-Two, the second-in-command, responded the others.

Spotting several shots dashing by, the pilot turned his view further to the rear, discovering the battered Acolyte fighter of Colonel Kaydaana Manaan flying backwards whilst constantly dodging attempts of vicious attacks led upon her. All this time through had he and other pilots been hearing the manaani cursing and insulting this 'Bandit' who had been pummeling her and her squadmates ever since the first hostile contact.  
Both of them were further behind. Worries for Kaydaana Manaan did plague the pilot, but just like the others of his group, they would be too much of an easy target as all of their fighters showed serious deficiencies. On the other hand, Kaydaana viciously ordered them neither to intervene nor to support her – She was obsessed of this challenging opponent.

It also became obvious that the 'Bandit' lost slight interest on the 'easy' fleeing targets. It did have the advantage of taking them out, but it kept reluctant of doing so. The 'Bandit' had been responsible for the losses and her rage – and it was still chasing her. She and the others had shot down several taiidans and turanics, but this specific 'Bandit' would still remain standing.

""Boss, we've got to support the Colonel! I don't care if she's on for some goddamn one-on-one duel!""  
The deep voice of Alpha-Three linked into the commline, ""Stay out of it, boy, she's savin' our asses right now!""

""Could care less about that! Her fighter is just as beaten up as ours! We're still better off as a unit and not as spread flock of some scared birds!""  
""She ordered full retreat!"", the supervisory commander known as Alpha-Two added, – FOLLOW THE DAMN ORDER! We are not going to – YYAHHHHHHHHHHGGGRRRGH!""…

Alpha-Six witnessed the unexpected…  
Unfortunately, it seemed as if they underestimated the accuracy of the artillery barrage launched by the faraway corvettes. Among all artillery shells that were fired, one violently struck through the hiigaran fighter of Alpha-Two, severing it into diverse parts; some of the parts sprayed upon Alpha-Six's hull. The screams of both the pilot and his co-pilot frightened everybody until both silenced after a short period.

Alpha-Six stared upon the shattered fighter and the two bodies that now drifted apart from it…

Again, Kaydaana yelled a battle cry as she immediately reignited the main thrusters her Acolyte, causing the heavy fighter to end its backwards flight and aggressively dash ahead. The force of inertia threw her powerfully into her seat. Thin gases began to fill the cockpit, but she ignored it as her view was partially supported by her visor system. The cockpit was shattered on its left side, also noticeable by the rear end of a large deformed projectile shell stuck above her left shoulder. The deaths of Alpha-Two were merely a spark that recalled the other losses of Alpha-Four and Five … but predominately of Ray:

It all happened during the phase of retreat.  
She opened her eyes. Kaydaana was disorientated at first, but soon managed to retain her senses. The 'Bandit' had once again forced her into a disadvantaging stalemated situation. Though able to dodge all attacks of the 'Triikor' interceptors nearby, it was the sudden appearance of the 'Bandit' on her side that scared her. The jolt of adrenaline made her focus all her skill and attention on the 'Bandit' who seemed to attempt an attack from that arc – but surprisingly, the 'Bandit' did not fire. Instead, the distraction lured her into the opening for a single turanic artillery corvette to have a clean shot on a lower rear section of her Acolyte – a dead angle for a critical strike!

Fate already gave her a second chance back then when the 'Bandit' caught her off guard… A third one was unlikely to happen… that is, if it were not for the coned vaygr fighter of Ray to suddenly appear between the line of fire and sight. Ray had always been there to support her, already topping the numbers of lethal takedowns - but this time, he was almost too late. Kaydaana sensed the worse to happen.

For the first time in her life, Kaydaana cried for the life of a special person, ironically for a vaygr, to get away and not to save her life by sacrificing his. She vainly shouted for his sake to get out of the line of fire, but his words were the last to be heard: ""_I am vaygr. I am expendable…_""

The missing Alpha-Four unit was likely to be killed-in-action and she lost all sign of his fighter that was now drifting somewhere through the dust cloud, which would soon to show up somewhere else throughout the region…

A head-on-head confrontation stood before - The mangled Acolyte versus the toughest turanic 'Bandit' ever met. Ironically, the Acolyte, though seriously damaged, revealed how determined the fiery pilot was about this showdown – foremost, the Acolyte showed no sign of backing out. Still kilometers away, they both approached each other at a dangerous rate.

But just as the confrontation was about to be resolved, the 'Bandit' pilot turned the view down to the vast ocean of gas below and beyond, being warned by the liquid membrane environment of the cockpit.

A gaseous mass arose in an instant, soon revealing an unknown vessel spinning and breaching through the layers of the colorful ocean. Trails of smoke were laid as it spun ahead.

Bridge of the Vjel-Amaj

At last, most of the screens and systems immediately reactivated themselves as the ship ended the 'Code: Purple' stealth procedure. After submerging away from the warzones, the ship risked a blind flight through the dense walls of gas as the only way of escape –luckily managing to emerge at the right spot thanks to specific calculations without colliding against any hidden wreckages.

"CONTACT!", the tactical operative in front of Orelis yelled, "Single 'Bandit' on a head-on pursuit with ALPHA-ONE! 14 kilometers away from our position, our 10 o'clock high!"

"That's Colonel Manaan alright! We found them!", somebody else cheered joyfully.  
"Alpha One, Three, Six and Seven are ahead of us – but they are still under suppressive fire by long range artillery, ranging from approximately 49 klicks away from them!", another operative added to the announcement, "I-I'm getting several s-spread signatures of a destructed fighter – hiigaran components…"

"Shit – They already shot down one ours!", Orelis yelled back, "We've got to put ourselves between the line of fire!"

All the time through since the ship had submerged into the gaseous sea as the only chance of retreat, Hailynn desperately fought against the nauseating feeling that was trying to force her in vomiting her misery. Being at the edge of her strength all this time clearly was not smartest to do, but it was Fenna's inexperienced piloting skills that made matters worse.

"FENNA, STABILIZE THE GODDAMN SHIP AND STOP FOOLING AROUND!", she barked ahead.  
"Alright - ALRIGHT!"

The ship ended its roll, but was still closing in on the units ahead at a high rate of approach. If Fenna did not want to smash through the friendly units, she would need to react fast! Using her left hand, she immediately pulled a small panel above her side and began to type several numbers meant for the automated negative-G.

"DON'T YOU DARE USE THAT!", Hailynn's voice threatened from behind, "We're not flying one of those damn cargo-tug mammoths you usually fly by the way – and I doubt you know the right settings, Fenna! Set that thing too high and everybody on this ship will end up smashed against the wall! Just pull the entire controls gently to yourself until you manage to slow the ship from Cruise Flight to a lower Patrol Flight profile - stat!"

Fenna was constantly cursed and yelled for every single thing she tried to do her way. Her anger was just as seething but she held herself back and did as Hailynn demanded by pulling the controls of the helm slowly towards her torso. Indeed, the amaji cruiser did begin to generate weak gravity fields among its aft sections, causing the ship to slow down at a constant rate and making much easier for her to stabilize its heading.

"Immediately target the 'Bandit' ahead of Alpha-One!", Orelis commanded, "Have our anti-missile flak turrets align to the target!"

Several circles began to position themselves among the enemy 'Bandit' among the tactical screens, but also had separate friendly units within their fields, showing possible friendly fire.

"Sir, the signature resolution of the defensive weaponry systems we have to our disposal are not designed for anti-craft purposes! The area of effect is too great – and even if we do hit, it is unlikely they will deal **any** damage!"  
"Don't give me that jabbering! I don't care if we have a drop of ammunition left - Whatever, she needs help – NOW!"

"Lieutenant Commander Orelis, Tactical, Logistics. I have a suggestion for all of you", Captain Quenton Sobaan called out, "Limit all arrays to carbonized lead charges. That should lower the resolution to the minimum."

Orelis swung his hand over to one of the logistic officers, "Do as he suggested! I want all targeting computers to perform a correction algorithm with each done volley! And even if we only hit once – I WANT THAT 'BANDIT' SNIPED - ASAP!"

In a matter of seconds, separate arrays of the cruiser began to fire sequenced volleys of hybrid projectiles that were actually not meant for anti-craft warfare. Surprisingly, the 'Bandit' suffered direct hits resembling as sparks crackling upon its armor. Taking in account that the fleeing preys and the fighter ahead was now in advantage, the 'Bandit' suddenly curved away from the approach, declining the attempt of dueling the Acolyte.  
Kaydaana did not like this at all.

"Wha- What is she doing?!"  
"Commander, Alpha-One is still pursuing the 'Bandit'! She's speeding up!"  
"Oh my gods, that 'Bandit' is pulling off and she's after him - Is she crazy?! Dumb question… - Get that whack woman on the comm' and have us cover our remaining units before anything else happens!"

She was boiling with rage. _The 'Bandit' was getting away with it_…

""DAMN IT, VEE-JAY!"", she yelled over the commline as she heard Kelsea demanding her to disengage the target, ""YER SPOILIN' EVERYTHING! GET OFF MAH SIGHT!""  
""Give me comm-unit!"", Orelis demanded at Kelsea, ""Colonel! I don't know on what sort of egomaniac trip you're on – but forget about that punk!""

""I'm not lettin' him git away with it, Orelis!""  
""WE'VE GOT NO TIME FOR ANY SORT OF 'HONORABLE' DUELS, MANAAN! There's a damn Dreadnought slaughtering **everything** and **everybody** in its way and all you have in your mind is that stupid 'Bandit' – Get back here!""

Certain matters plagued Kaydaana; matters of guilt and anger.  
Anger for her mangled Acolyte – Guilt for the lost lives,  
""Th-those sonuvabitches… shot down Wang, Dargo... Tank… Hubby, Evoria… and Ray – RAY IS DEAD!"" - Fenna quietly shrieked as she heard Kaydaana's voice speaking over the bridge's speakers -""I don't care what'll happen! I DON'T CARE IF THAT BANDIT'S GONNA LURE MEH BACK INTO THAT CLOUD! HE'LL PAY IN SPADES, TA-NIGHT! YOU HEARD ME?!""

""The losses go on my account, Kaydy, but wait Aira – Are you sure?!... Alright – you are our last hope to find them!!"", Hailynn's voice intervened, ""You won't believe this, but Ray might still alive! She doesn't know the whereabouts of Alpha-Four but… I'm just glad some of you survived""  
""WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!""

"Well, that caught her attention…", Orelis snarled…  
""Listen! Aira still detects some activity of Ray even though we are some hundreds of klicks away from them – Don't ask me how she's able but you know she's the best we have! She will need to do a thorough probing – but our priority is to get you and the others out of this chaos first!""

Kaydaana's rage faded slightly, leaving some of her common sense to take over. The 'Bandit' was on the run, but if she could maintain the acceleration, she would catch up with her archenemy – otherwise, it was likely that he was luring her to an ambush. Hailynn's words did affect her and even though she hoped for the others – such as Ace and Evoria - to survive, it was clear for everybody that she had greater interests for Ray's wellbeing. But it was her manaani will that was plagued by the fact that she was going to pull away from a fight...

""Yah better not be fakin' it on me, Hailey…""  
""Aira never fakes, Kaydy. Remember that.""  
""Fine, I'm comin' back…""

Doing as announced, the mangled Acolyte ended its pursuit and curved away.

""Colonel Manaan?"", Kelsea's voice called once more, ""Umm… I have just received a transmitted data package – Origin: The turanic 'Bandit'. Seems to be… some sort of communication drop-off – some long message for you, ma'am. I am unable to translate it now but it does seem to be some sort of comment dispatched by the enemy pilot you pursued.""

She did not answer but turned her view over her right shoulder. While physically looking towards the wall of her filled cockpit, the visor revealed the 'Bandit' far behind her that was retreating towards the certain dust cloud. Definitely, this was the last time she would see that 'Bandit'… that skillful foe with the treacherous mind that always had a step ahead of her.

For this moment, it seemed as if the situation was resolved. Kaydaana, despite being known for the irresponsive _manaani obedience_, concurred with Hailynn's request of retreat. Luckily, Hailynn manage to stop her from probably losing her life relentlessly.

Moments later during the retrieval of the hiigaran strikecrafts…  
Everybody observed the main screen as it revealed a blinking symbol positioned deep within the chaotic battle between the kadeshi and the triad allegiance. While it was remarkable how Aira's thoughts focused upon his whereabouts within moments, it was the reality of his situation that gave greater worries. Due to the thousands of interfering radiation fields, she was unable to find Alpha-Four – who were now presumed as killed-in-action.

Unfortunately, Ray was not only deep within the slaughtering warzones, but even within the territory of the vaygr crusade. Upon near defeat, Ray's fighter must have sustained the crippling blow while he was flying at high speed. Albeit Aira assuring that the Seekers of Rahji would definitely refrain from attacking him, he was in deep trouble...

"Commander Delixa? Commander Orelis…?", Kelsea called out with a serious voice, "I have bad news. I am picking up an all-out broadcast of the vaygr warlord."  
"He is probably showing off again."  
"I fear the warlord is serious about this one, sir…", she replied.

After Kelsea set the transmissions to the bridge speakers again, the garbled voice of the vaygr warlord once again spoke in a deep triumphing manner: ""Brethren of the Pax, brothers and sisters of Scay'Gra, behold. The will of the weak blood is crumbling! They are attempting to flee. The kadeshi plague is dying with every second! But behold, my brethren, it seems as if we have found… the last of the traitors.""  
"Aww SHIT! How could this happen?!", Orelis cursed.

"I can only guess that he had an uncontrollable drift during the retreat and fell off course, sir", somebody presumed, "Having such a fast craft like his can easily end up elsewhere in a matter of seconds."  
"Hmpf, so easy to get lost in space… No wonder our strikecrafts have set-limits."

""Makaan is dead. 'Pax Vay' is no more."", another garbled but familiar deep voice spoke.  
"It's… It's RAY!"

Kaydaana listened to the occurrences over the speakers of the fighter bay as she was helped and heaved out of the seriously battered Acolyte by medics and mechanics. Surprised by the news, she tried to push them away, wanting to board the cockpit again but was held back.

""Silence, defector! The hunt for the traitors may have taken days, but alas, you have not succeeded in escaping yourself. Your death will be an **example** for those puny hiigarans that dared to spare the lives of these… ka-de-shi…""  
Hailynn curled her hands into fists.  
""I sense your fears, hiigarans, I know you are out there. The heart of the prey can never hide – but I know you will attempt to escape this hunt… this system. Your silence only reveals what you intend to do. I know you will conduct a fleeing hyperjump from this system – but what holds you back, hiigaran weaklings? Is it this… traitor?""

By now, it was clear that vaygr warlord and his deadly armada had the upper hand. The kadeshi were surrounded in a death trap, Ray was stuck somewhere between the front lines by now, the missing Alpha-Four unit presumed dead – There were so many factors and tragedies happening that it was hard to keep up with the numbers of events. But for now, Ray was the greater interest for the vaygr warlord.

Again, it began to make sense for Hailynn. The vaygr warlord unified his crusade for the task of cleansing those who voided 'Pax Vay' and attempted to seek asylum. Around that time frame when the hiigarans settled with vaygr, the Seekers of Rahji must have found this system. Ray, formally the unnamed defender of his people, must have protected them from many death bringing attempts of the Scay'Gra – long before the Kiith Amaji High Command issued a rescue operation. She stood up and limped towards the center of the bridge. Many questions still remained open – Hailynn needed more to time to come with conclusions.

Aira quietly listened to the voices, full of fright and awe for the valiant warrior known as Ray.  
""Hiigarans…"", Ray suddenly called out, ""I must accept my _guilt_.""  
"Guilt?! What guilt is he talking about?", Orelis mentioned loudly.

""RAY! What is this all about?!"", Hailynn called out to him.  
""So… the prey speaks again…""  
""I am the last warrior and pledged defender of my clan. My priority was to bring the families into safety in the hands of the hiigarans – I have fulfilled my duty. I may be called a traitor – but I assure you, Warlord of Scay'Gra, that I still obey the vaygr doctrine. I have lost many brothering warriors in this nebula, but also _brought deaths upon my kind_ – I shall share the same fate... as there is no further need of my existence.""

The entire bridge crew could not believe they just heard. Obviously, Ray was still serious about the vaygr doctrine. Even though he no longer believed in Makaan's will, he was still a vaygr. Despite him defending his people, he killed many vaygr – a fact he did not want to deny at all.  
""Very well – The hiigarans call you… 'Ray'? How is this that a weak vaygr traitor possesses a name? Answer me!""  
""That no longer matters, Warlord of Scay'Gra… I am a nameless and the last warrior of my clan and I have ended my task. The hiigarans and the rest of my people are in safety now.""  
""RAY!"", another female voice yelled into the open frequency.

"What the -?", Orelis said and discovered Fenna shouting into her comm unit, "Hey – Stay out of it, Fenna! Kelsea, cut her off the damn line!"

Kelsea, who was already merely tangled with many communication units and transceivers threw an annoyed glare at Orelis before trying to lock the specific signal from the broadband conversation.

Nobody expected a person like Fenna to become so emotional, but nonetheless, her pleas sounded naïve, ""Please! Ray! You can't be serious about all of this! Don't sacrifice yourself! You don't have to take some sort of silly consideration for that guy or any other vaygr! Please – You don't understand that your people still needs a leader! They all look up to you – They need you – I-I… I need you!""

Many mouths fell open – not to mention how Kaydaana at the hangar bay fought with her comm-unit to interfere with the speech.

Hailynn suddenly spoke up, ""So… Is that it? That is all? Is that your last will… you 'nameless warrior'? Are you going to just give up on us and all those who believe in you just because you feel that you must fulfill the vaygr doctrine and turn yourself in for some sick conviction? GODDAMMIT – Get back -""

""I apologize, Delixa. That is my will. Bring my people into the asylum of the Kiith Amaj.""

She looked down to the floor. She should have seen this coming. It was possible that he even brought himself to that point. Days before, during the first negotiation with him at the brig revealed a slight intention of his that she did not understand at first – A guilt that seemed to plague him. Nonetheless, it was too late.

""If that is your will…"", Hailynn then said, ""_By your command_ – We will bring your people to the Kiith Amaj. End of Transmission"".  
The wrecked hiigaran straightened herself shortly, "Alright. Orelis – I want the ship to be readied for the _jump_."  
"… Done deal, Commander. Alright everybody – you heard her. Let's get to it…"

Fenna burst into a mix of anger and sorrow. Unable to speak further over the commline, she immediately detached herself from the sophisticated seat. Fenna fought against the weariness of her exhausted legs to Hailynn who ignored her pleas as the young amaji cried, vainly begging her and the others to rescue Ray. Being grabbed by the crying woman, Hailynn quietly stood as she was gripped and shaken tightly by Fenna, "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS ABOUT THIS, HAILYNN!"

"Get your hands off her, Ensign or I'll have you -!", Orelis shouted at the amaji pilot but interrupted his speech when he spotted Hailynn raising her hand to him.

It was embarrassing but everybody knew by now that Fenna had feelings for Ray. The prank her twin sister pulled on her seemed to have caused more than just a joke. She continuously tried to persuade Hailynn as she sobbed.

"Zann."  
"Y-Yes, Commander?"  
"I want you to generate a highly focused electromagnetic field with our available capacitor energy and have it collapse as soon as we jump."

Zann wondered but did not question the order. Assuming that Hailynn had some knowledge of Quantum Field Theory, she probably wanted the field to lighten the generation of the quantum wavefront.

Fenna's grips were still curled among Hailynn's messed up uniform jacket; each bounce painfully knocked against her injury.

"Get back to your station, Ensign – and stop… poking… my… ribs…"  
"Hailynn! I will not turn my back on him – You don't want him?! Fine - I'll fly us over there if I must! FRAKK, give me a shuttle and I'll pick him up!"

"What the frakk?! Don't even think about it, ENSIGN!", Orelis threatened, "Crazy girl – They'd blow us up! Don't you dare that or -!"

"- OR WHAT?! Will you break my limbs?! Remove me from duty?! Hailynn is unable to fly this ship! You don't have any other real pilots on this ship! I haven't slept for ages – and I'm hungry like frell, Orelis – but I'll forget about all of that because there is one person in my life that needs **my help**! I don't care about anything else!"  
"You always wanted to head back to Amaj – NOW IS OUR CHANCE - and you want to stay here?!"

"Zann.", Hailynn firmly spoke again, ignoring the argument between the two.  
"Still here, ma'am…"  
"How far are we with that 'Morovuur' jump?"

"Ready and good to go, ma'am. The coils and the conduit modules are spooled for some serious business. Will be one heck of a ride… Brogan assured that there will be no interruptions and short-circuiting even if we were to conduct some other jump method. Frell, I'm sure he'd go mad if we were to do another jump elsewhere before this one, actually", Zann joked.  
"Very funny, Zann! Why don't you just shut up?!", Fenna shouted at him ironically.

Hailynn stared at the main screen for a long time. Ray was too far away to reach on time by flying all the way back. Several hundreds of kilometers lay between their positions – however, he was not quite in the reach of the Scay'Gra yet. The warzones were still full of action and slaughtering.  
Deadly fields of radiation were everywhere. With the Dreadnought blocking the passage to the tremendous Star Gate, it was unlikely that 'Kadesha's Ark' or any other kadeshi would survive this day. There was no way out for Ray or the Kadeshi…

"Aira – You are still _connected_ with the Kadeshi Seekers, or?"  
The girl quietly nodded, "Yes, Naji… They still heed my voice."

""Behold…"", the vaygr warlord announced, ""The hiigaran weaklings are going to leave you and this kadeshi plague to its fate… Hiigarans, you may have succeeded in fleeing – but aware, the hunt never ends …""

"So that's it?!... You're leaving Ray behind?! You really are going to jump us out of here and let Ray die– Well… Fine… FINE…"

Pethera shook her head while quietly observing them and as she did so, Orelis noticed her eyes looking straight at Hailynn. Following her stare, it became noticeable that Hailynn was up to something. It was that look that revealed that her mastermind came up with... something…

"Aw…"  
Hailynn nodded at Orelis.  
"Aww… shit…"

Hailynn suddenly lowered her view at Fenna, "Yeah, oh, yeah… We are going to jump alright, Orelis. Zann, tell Brogan he can feel free to get pissed-off… because…"

Her long pause all the sudden attracted the eyes of several other operatives, "We're going to make sure we leave this place with all of **OUR** people! We all represent the pride of the Kiith Amaj!", Fenna's eyes widened as the female commander spoke further, "I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY FRAKKING VAYGR RULES ANY MORE! To all decks – CODE: **BLACK**! Kenta, Quan, Aira – I want you three to generate the closest point of emerge to Ray as possible! You heard right, everybody! We're going to PHASEJUMP!"

(6 of 6)  
A single tattered vaygr fighter drifts along…

Strings of death spread from all sides, circling him from the highest arc above. The vaygr missiles were coming in for him. Vessels of all kinds were everywhere, trying to maul each other to oblivion as other irrelevant explosions shortly distracted him.

Being the only witness of his upcoming event of death, it did not even evoke the slightest emote of Ray, who quietly stared at the volley slowly engaging the death strike course. This was the end, but neither did he fright nor thought of anything else other than the end of his _lifetime-service_ as a warrior who had been in countless _yet lesser_ slaughtering wars like this one. He did not care, for the violence, cruelty and atrocities of this war and the vaygr way would continue even beyond his death.

Those he once protected have survived and escaped the madness, being sure that none of them would shed a tear for a _nameless_ warrior. He is vaygr. He is expendable. He is…

At the same moment a bright explosion occurred, caused by a not so distant kadeshi vessel dispersing a coupled fusion-nuclear core meltdown, all of his thoughts cut short as a distinct vessel whipping gases among its structure suddenly appeared… not far away from his position as it overshadowed his fighter. The flash dissipated, revealing a battered nimble cruiser slowly drifting with three smoking glowing masses on its side.

**- By your command -**

"Countdown at T-Minus 1:24 minutes to the phase jump – a-a-and egads!…?!", Fenna shouted at first but was then scared by the sudden chaos that surrounded her entirely on all screens. The recent moment left her in astonishment, not sure of what just happened – left was only a single memory of being frozen and colorblind for a single heartbeat, "Wha- Where… oh my g-gods! - We- W-WE'VE ALREADY PHASEJUMPED!"

Everybody but the captain were scared by surprise and discovered all screens resembling the surroundings of the vessel showing destruction and chaos of war everywhere. Red vessels of all kinds were everywhere; the vaygr super Dreadnought being the most devastating of all. The path to the enigmatic Star Gate was coming to an end with 'Kadesha's Ark' and its entire nearly endless convoy very close by. Countless celestial objects of progenitor heritage circled and orbited the path.

"**GOD-DAMN-PHASEDRIVE-TO-FRELL**!", Orelis cursed, then yelled to others right when he caught his and the balance of Pethera again, "IT DID IT AGAIN – WE JUMPED TO EARLY! "  
"Yeah – but this time almost two minutes earlier than that three-seconds of that last one?!", somebody else asked from the other side.  
"Doesn't matter – Fact is: WE'RE BACK IN THE THICK OF IT!"

Hailynn quietly shrieked. Not only did the premature phasejump surprise her, but also gave another painful strike upon her injured thorax. She had been tortured by such pain and misery for so long - and yet each time it happened, it was reiteratively a stunning experience of agony. Her breath was still rushing. Though she knew the phasejump had occurred, her view still remained colorless – her mind cut short and lost of memory. It took a three long seconds until all recovered.

"Observatory - Our position?!"  
Kenta immediately turned around, "Phasejump n-near-to-perfect, sir! And it happened alright...!"  
"Confirmed!", Quan added, "Jump NTP! We're only some 300 meters away from Ray! Back in the warzone… At least it wasn't a blind jump wheeew!"

"Back in trouble… Back in _business_…", Orelis said to himself.  
Destructive fusion shockwaves immediately rocked the ship again along with random shrouds of hull scraps raining on the hull like hail. Zann sighed with great grief as he did not find any of the screens revealing serious damages to the various hyperdrive units and conduits. Furthermore, he was happy that the phasejump, though malfunctioning, did not end up a in blindjump to nowhere.

Fenna's euphoria raised when she hear about being so close to Ray, but it failed to give her any real hopes of survival. Missiles were coming in from all sides, "Ack! MISSILES! EVERYWHERE! **MIIIIISSILES**!", she screamed twice.

"Ensign! Get this ship back under control and get us as close to that suicidal vaygr! We have to get him on this ship!", Orelis demanded to her, "GET TO IT!"

Noticing the problems of orientation of vessel and recognizing that that young amaji woman was piloting it again, Ray spotted the surprising amaji cruiser altering its course to his area,  
""AMAJIS! WHAT - What are you doing here?!""  
""The hiigaran prey has… returned"", the vaygr warlord viciously commented, ""Maybe this hunt will end sooner than I thought. You will not prevail, hiigarans…""

"Oh, can't that sonova bitch shut the frakk up for a change?!"  
"Commander Orelis! We have several heavy assault missiles coming in from the arcs! Locked on Ray!"

"Hailynn, you alright?! You have any plans on this one?!"  
There was emptiness in her mind, paralyzing her from any further movement and word.

"Whatever – I'll take over this one - This is it! This is going to use up the last 'whatever' percentage of ammo we have left – Tactical, gunnery, target all incoming missiles! Fire at will! Take down as many as you can!", the grim commander announced, taking over the word of Hailynn's command shortly.

The amaji cruiser once again fired assets of anti-missile projectiles and flechette charges into the surroundings, additionally suppressing groups of incoming missiles with its sophisticated ECM field generators and hacking technology. All tactical and gunnery operatives anxiously did their best to support each other through extensive fire control linking. To some extent, there was so many confusions in the dense space that not only kadeshi pods, but also those units of the rivaling triad collided with the missiles.

Obviously, the vaygr warlord did not care much – if not for anything – He wanted the traitor to be executed. There were still too many factors of hulking wrecks and obstacles in the way to commence an artillery barrage death strike with success, fortunately. However, single missiles managed to bypass perimeter causing separate impacting explosions on the plasma-burning side of the cruiser.

The ship rumbled and rocked violently while Orelis gave a demanding response, "Ensign Fenna! Keep that damn burning starboard aligned to the incoming group of missiles! The thermal effect of those plasma-masses are still evoking the hexa-armor to conceal the radiation by natural aggregation!"

"We should dump those things right now!"  
"Frell no! One hexa-cell costs a frakking fortune! Not to mention that open whole on the standard armor! Don't worry, with it denser than usual due to such thermal energy, we should be able to withstand the hits without any trouble!"

The situation was already getting confusing, dreadfully tense and breathtaking. The surrounding action of the warzone did not make matters easier:

""Amajis - You were supposed to hyperjump out of this system. You are still here."", Ray spoke to them with a surprisingly calm voice.  
""We're here to get you, honey… eh - Ray!"", Fenna's voice linked into the open commline.

"Hey, I thought Fenna's comm-signal was supposed to be locked?!", Orelis asked to Kelsea, who shrugged. Kelsey was unfortunately too confused and overwhelmed by all the trouble, action and coordination of internal communications. She must have blocked Fenna's unit only to an insufficient point. On top of all the mishaps, Fenna's commline was not only open, but also now broadcasted to the entire ship.

""Your intentions are questionable. Naïve. Thoughtless. The vaygr warlord will execute all of us, amaji.""

""What is your problem, Ray?!"", Fenna argued back to him, her words led by adrenaline and loose emotions, ""We're here on your behalf! We want you to **live**! I'm throwing myself in the line of fire – just for you!""  
"What-about-us?!"

More missiles struck on the naturally fortified side of the amaji cruiser. Large projectile shells slipped by but either glanced, missed or struck against the wreckages surrounding them. The bridge itself became chaotic instantly. Alarms sounded from all sides. Pure fear and adrenaline rushed through Fenna's veins, but she fretfully held her grip on the controls, barely capable of maintaining the ship from capsizing against Ray's destroyed fighter. She anxiously looked over shoulder, staring at the screen revealing the spot where Ray was.

""It was mindless of you, amaji!"", Ray yelled, probably the first time sounding enraged, ""I must obey the vaygr doctrine! It is my destiny!""

At the same moment, Aira was revisited by the presence of the High Emulator of Kadesha. Time began to slow down again. Her fears soothed slightly as she felt goose bumps spreading among her skin, her mind softly entering a daydreaming trance. Her voice echoed within her mind:

You have returned, my emissary. Your essence is in great danger. Child, the protectors of your song, the amaji, have brought you back into the heart of death. We fear for your soul. The 'unbelievers' bears no mercy. I have been sharing your thoughts with the triumvirate, the synod and other emulators of her divinity... Observing…. Listening… My soul is aware that the amaji mind has not returned as an act of arbitrary thought. They sorrow for this… 'unbeliever'… this… vaygr… this… 'Ray'.  
Sole child of Kadesha, this has evoked bewilderment and confusion amidst the minds of the triumvirate and the synod. We sense their intention is not… foolish… We sense your soul bears these… emotions - We seek… answers…

Aira turned her view over to the dying 'Kadesha's Ark', her view lowered in awe, "My soul cannot answer this… My soul cannot understand these… emotions. I have these same… feelings… for my Naji, the soul of Hailynn. I do not know why… My body reacts in awe and fear, I feel a pounding haste in me, my eyes wanders, my mind spirals – These people, the soul of Ray – Their souls are of my essence! Their souls are in danger – I cannot refrain away… as of the amaji soul that cries and sorrows for his wellbeing.  
Ray is a valiant warrior – I bear greater fears from his soul at first as of being a death bringer of the vaygr 'unbelievers', but I have heed his sorrows. His loneliness – Esh'no nadara… His intentions only reckoned the safety of the families, bond by vaygr and hiigaran souls. Yet, his intentions have brought death to his own people.  
He has killed the vaygr 'unbelievers' and has bled sorrows for each death. He wishes to be… condemned for his act as his task of protection has succeeded – The amaji yet despite his will of impending… condemning death, they despite his last will…"

""I will not return. I am done for and will accept my death. That is the way of the vaygr, amaji. Flee. You will survive if you flee.""

"Commander Orelis, we have several assault groups coming from twelve separate arcs of approach! We don't have much time, sir – They will be reaching clear firing positions soon… if we're still here, they'll -"  
"Got it! Got it! – Frakk, this is takin' too long!"

""Ray! Ray…"", Fenna continued, her face was flood of tears, ""P-Please… Th-This galaxy is a gods-forsaken place! I am alone – I am… alone… please… come back… I l-love-""

""What is this?"", the vaygr warlord interrupted suddenly, ""A young woman? A hiigaran? A hiigaran showing emotions for a **nameless** warrior? I cannot believe my brethren must share this disgusting… confession… event! Weak blood intending to partner with a nameless vaygr traitor… bah! Never shall our blood mix with that of the weak!"

""I do not believe in what you call 'love, Fenna of Amaj. I am vaygr. I am expendable.""  
Fenna suddenly burst into a cry, yelling and insulting the vaygr warlord that continuously lampooned her _confession_ and revelation of fears. Her comments and arguments were more than embarrassing.

"This is crazy… Fenna is in love with a vaygr. What a love confession – in the middle a bloody war!", Orelis said to the tactical operatives, surprisingly, since he was not usually the talkative one, "Man – This is so crazy, I'm wonderin' why Kaydaana hasn't said a word about this – but all in all, does ANYBODY have a clue to **convince** a goddamn crazed vaygr?!"  
"Got this just in, Commander", Kelsea shortly announced, "Colonel Kaydaana Manaan is being brought to sickbay as we speak. She was already screaming in my ear, asking for broadcast clearance, when she heard about that _confession_ – and then, she collapsed all the sudden."  
"Ooof… Man, at least she'll give us a catches balance break…! Hope we -"

Without warning, the wrecked and deranged Hailynn Delixa suddenly stood up and limped to the center of the bridge while aligning her frequency to the all-out transmission of Fenna – then burst into yell, ""Vaygr RAY – **I AM TALKING TO YOU**!""

"What the -"

""I **DEMAND** YOU TO RETURN TO THIS SHIP!""  
""Denied.""  
""DON'T DENY MY DEMAND! WE ARE NOT LEAVING UNTIL WE HAVE ALL OF **OUR** PEOPLE ONBOARD! ""  
""… that does not change my intent. I am vaygr. Not hiigaran"", Ray's voice slowly replied - as usual, unimpressed of anything, ""I will not dock""

""OH - YOU HEARD RIGHT ALRIGHT, RAY! YOU ARE ONE OF **US**! I AM SICK AND TIRED OF HEARING YOU SAYING YOU ARE A SOLE WARRIOR AT THE END OF HIS LIFE!""  
""… that does not change my intent"", Ray's voice slowly replied - as usual, unimpressed of anything, ""I will not dock. I have ended my task, Delixa… I -""

""OHHH HO-HOOOOH-HOOOOO, NO YOU **HAVE NOT**, RAY!"", Hailynn ferociously blared among the commline; surprising everybody throughout the ship, but Hailynn also knew that the hiigaran-vaygr refugees were listening too, ""YOU'RE FORGETTING SOMETHING HERE!""

While everybody understood Hailynn being outraged for Ray's denial of return, nobody understood or knew what she was up to.

""Another loud-mouthed hiigaran? I recognize that voice. You must be the hiigaran officer from before who -""  
""SHUT THE FRAKK UP AND WAIT UNTIL I TALK TO YOU, YOU WANNABE ASS-of-MAKAAN WARLORD! RAY – I DON'T CARE MUCH ABOUT YOUR WISH FOR SUICIDAL - BUT IF YOU WANT – I'LL SHOOT YOU – BUT **ON MY SHIP**!""

""…I will not return – though I know your proposals are never lies, Delixa. Denied.""

Several operatives were shocked of Hailynn's words, but it was Fenna who could not believe what Hailynn was saying. It was true that Hailynn keeps her promises.

""OH YOU KNOW I WILL EXECUTE YOU IF THAT IS THE 'VAYGR WAY' YOU WANT! BUT THAT IS GOING TO HAVE TO WAIT… **BECAUSE YOUR TASK AIN'T OVER, BIG GUY**!""  
""Hmm – What?"", Ray asked.  
"What?!", Orelis wondered – probably just as confused as the rest of the crew – but as he turned his view, he spotted Pethera standing not far away, staring at Hailynn once again… Again, that vicious and hatred glare upon Hailynn that seem to forecast her thoughts – the mastermind within.

Hailynn paused before she screamed further:  
""YOU MAY HAVE SLAUGHTER LOTS OF VAYGR ON YOUR PATH – GREAT WORK BY THE WAY – EVEN IF YOU CONSIDER IT AN ATROCITY, YOU HAVE PROVEN THAT YOU ARE AN HONORABLE VAYGR, YOU MAY HAVE SUCCEEDED IN FULFILLING THE WILL OF YOU FORMER LORD OF COMMAND IN BRINGING THESE PEOPLE ONBOARD TO SAFETY – BUT YOU ARE FORGETTING THAT YOUR TASK IS NOT OVER! WE ARE STILL HERE! **HERE** – WITH A CRAPLOAD OF PEOPLE NEEDING YOU AS A LEADER AND PROTECTOR – AND…""

His pause _sounded_ much differently…

""THAT VAYGR ASS'KAAN WARLORD DOES NOT HAVE HONOR! HE DOES NOT DESERVE TO EXECUTE YOU! AND THAT AIN'T IT: THAT WARLORD IS ON HIS WAY – RIGHT NOW – SENDING ALL THE CRAP HE GOT TO KILL US – ALL OF US!""

Pethera viciously grinned. Again, her precognition was right. Hailynn did have a plan, however, she did not expect it to be that _mad_. Suddenly, the s'jeti woman felt a grip on her arm. Looking to her side, she discovered Orelis holding her arm,  
"Hey, you know what she's up to?!", he asked her.

She loosened her face, "Delixa is an animal, Orelis. I don't know if 'snake' fits."  
"Cut the damn metaphors!"  
"S-Sorry", again that strange reaction, Pethera did not know why she always reacted like this when near Orelis, "She has a plan… but not just any plan. A plan that simply cannot fail… just watch."

Orelis turned his annoyed view back to the wrecked hiigaran officer.

""Wait. Delixa"", Ray then said – for some reason, he sounded uncertain.  
"Delixa – I do not know if you are a 'snake'… but you are an malicious bitch. Orelis… she is not just doing simple psychology on him – She is **persuading him**!"  
"huh?!"

""AND… WE'RE NOT GOING UNTIL YOU ARE ONBOARD, MISTER! OH, WE KNOW WE'LL BE DEAD ANY MOMENT TOO SOON! PROBABLY SOON ENOUGH THAT **WILL CAUSE FAILURE** TO YOUR TASK! AND ONE MORE THING – YOU ARE FORGETTING SOMETHING YOU TOLD ME AFTER THAT FIRST DAY WE MET…""

""Delixa… You can't do that… You are an honorable officer of the 'Vjel-Amaj' - serving for freedom and the Pride of the Kiith Amaj"", Ray spoke, somewhat sounding as if he were beseeched her, ""You are an **officer** – You cannot sacrifice the ship with all the people onboard – that is a dishonorably fatuous intent! Y-You are -""

""I AM HAILYNN DELIXA OF THE KIITH AMAJ AND WILL STAND RIGHT HERE WITH ALL THESE PEOPLE ONBOARD AND HAVE IMPENDING DEATH ABOUT TO STRIKE ON ALL OF US!"", Hailynn shouted with a dry throat.

Fenna barely managed to look over the edge of her seat to Hailynn as she still fought to keep the ship stable from the impacting forces of missiles. Also Orelis was surprised of Hailynn's threat. She was outright mad, messed up, in dire need of rest – if not drugs -, most likely hungry – but also determined like never before. She was really intending to stand there, having the ship not move an inch closer to Amaji Prime until Ray concur to come onboard.

She indeed was persuading him with a dreadfully high gambit, a gambit set on all the lives onboard with fate to decide.

""Fate will not turn its way for us, Delixa… If I deny fate and not accept my death - It will return and destroy more than you can imagine…""  
""FATE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT! STOP THE DAMN NOSTALGIC TALKING!""

Time was running out, minor shells impacted on the outer armor, luckily deforming or exploding without dealing any significant damage other than a kinetic misery for the entire crew within – Nonetheless a sign that separate heavy units of the triad were breaching through the kadeshi perimeters.  
""Y-You cannot possibly contemplate to sacrifice the everybody! You are -"", Ray still hesitated.

""- SERIOUSLY PISSED AND I'M NOT THROUGH YET! YOU PLEDGED YOUR ALLEGIANCE TO MY AUTHORITY OF COMMAND! I AM HAILYNN DELIXA, WEAK-BLOOD-HIIGARAN SPIT, KRIN'SA, LADY-COMMANDER, YOU NAME IT – BUT I AM ALSO AND STILL– **YOUR LORD OF COMMAND** – AND I DEMAND YOU TO DOCK ONBOARD! YOU ARE VAYGR AND YOU **WILL** obey! YOU WILL – painful moan""

Several moments went by. Unfortunately, Hailynn was overwhelmed by a sudden weakness and as it occurred, she staggered back to the commander's seat barely - Her body forcing her to finally end the rampage.

"A-Alert! 27 heavy fusion missiles coming in from several arcs!", a tactical operative announced anxiously, "If we don't get out of here – we're history, sir!"

One of the logistics operatives slowly leaned back, "Our defensive field generators won't be able to fend all of them off… We are totally out of ammunition stocks, sir…", she added, all screens showing blinking symbols.

""Amusing… A hiigaran woman commanding a vaygr… Never had I thought to see such --"", the warlord commented, but was then completely surprised by the following phrase of Ray.

""By your command… my Lord of Command.""

egad- speechless looks…  
"Nooo way…", Orelis said, not believing it but indeed, he spotted the coned vaygr fighter on the side screen that began to rotate and approach the 'Vjel-Amaj's lower side albeit with great difficulties, "H-Hailynn… You did it…"

Hailynn was breathless.

"Ensign Fenna! Hover the ship to portside! SLIGHTLY – and angle the ship a bit so he can have it easier to dock! Logistics – open the junction he uses as a docking point! Hurry!"  
"Ahh-mh-ahhhh moans O-Orelis…"

"Yes, Hailynn?"

"While Ray is getting back onboard… I want you to prepare the following…"

"Ready for anything, ma'am – but can you handle it?"

"Don't worry about me. We need to get out of here – for good, this time for… real. But as we do so, I have one more thing to do."

"Ray's fighter is having trouble entering the junction, but he will be done in a sec'!", somebody announced from the other side.

"Stand by, Orelis – just give me a… moment…", Hailynn stuttered, trying to breathe as low as possible to avoid further pain.

Orelis took four quick steps back to the tactical operation side, just next to Pethera.

"So… With that vaygr scum onboard, we will be leaving this system, I propose?"  
He looked back at her with an annoyed look and said quietly, "About as sure as Hailynn's stuck capslock."  
"Whaaaat?"

**- Failure -**

After the preceding tone of an important public announcement, a familiar good-humored voice echoed throughout all decks, catching the attention of every single person onboard:

""Greetings! This is Chief Logistics Officer Deena Amaj speaking here with an important announcement concerning an upcoming event ordered by bridge command. Due to our situation, the 'Vjel-Amaj' must attain extreme measures to engage a high, if not insanely high acceleration profile – seriously, people, I strongly advise you to stay at a safe place for now. As soon as the _love interest_ of my sister has returned onboard, the ship will disengage all inertia dampeners among all decks – exclusively sections such as Engineering, Sickbay and other vital sections.  
Decks with low inertia fields will be signified as dimmed sectors – that would be almost the whole ship, for you information. Due to these causes, it is strictly advised to brace yourselves carefully. Avoid areas with loose objects and only operate in secured sectors. The force of acceleration is likely injuries, both physically and mentally. If you feel lightheadedness, unease, shortness of breath – I strongly advise you to head to a secured section such as sickbay. Thank you for your cooperation. Pride. veeeeep""

As the public announcement ended, many hardworking operatives and technicians rubbed their faces – but as they realized that her words revealed serious measures, they all hasted more around than before.

Bridge of the Vjel-Amaj

A male logistics officer turned around and shouted, "Commanders! Ray is in one of the junctions now! He's willing to stay there as long as needed! We are ready to get out of here!"  
"Heavy missiles inbound!", the superior tactical operative noted, "We're sitting ducks if we don't move!"

That was the call. Orelis had been anxiously waiting for this go-signal, "About frakking time! Alright Ensign, you know where to go! Get us out of here!"

"Uuuuuhmm…", Fenna hesitated, "**NO!**"

"What's the problem now with getting out of -", he shouted at her but discovered all screens revealing too many enemy battle groups swarming the sectors, "…here?"

Practically all points of retreat were blocked, heavily guarded or simply had too many skirmishing friendly kadeshi in the way to get through. But as they tried to find ways out, separate ion beams were unleashed upon the surrounding battle groups. As pairs of beams were unleashed again, three separate kadeshi ion beam frigates spun around and swung past the 'Vjel-Amaj'. Turanic ion array frigates attempted to return fire, but were too slow due to their low tracking speed.

"We will support your flee. I beg you again, Protectors of the Emissary", Aira's voice spoke slowly from above, "Flee."

"Whooooa…"  
"Wow…", two operatives said with surprised faces as they saw the three damaged kadeshi frigates moving ahead, distracting and roughing up as many hostile units as possible through the fields of the surrounding wreckages. The kadeshi were supporting the amaji cruiser again.

"Well – I'll be… There are some possibilities open for retreat! Ensign, looks like we have no other choice but to retreat through one of those four possible passages! However, it will be leading us to 'Kadesha's Ark and its convoy fleet… That will be some serious traffic but we don't have much of a choice!", the tactical operative explained as he interpreted the information he could gain from his tactical screens, "Best would be to take that path past that loose frigate formation! Hurry! The heavy missiles are almost here!"  
"Excellent!", he commented and slapped his fist upon his left palm, "Alright, set the course!"

"I'm also detecting several high yield gravity mines spread among the gate!", Kenta reported shortly, "The vaygr Dreadnought must have deployed them! Those things might be small, but they will deal destructive damage upon ships with high mass!"

"…like 'Kadesha's Ark'…"

"Understood – but for now: Prepare the low-inertia acceleration thrust profile as well", Hailynn suddenly demanded, "The vaygr warlord and his army of idiots will be going for us now!"  
"Affirmative, ma'am!"

"Everybody. This is the last stage of the operation. The true retreat. We will be engaging a incredible thrust that will be felt like a crushing force. It won't be comfortable at all but we will be able to engage high cruise flight profile in no time!... I'm sorry I have to tear all of you through this frakking mess again…"  
"I'm ready to go, Hailynn…", Fenna's voice sounded from ahead.

"Let's get out of here! Ensign, engage course to through the weakest defended route of escape and bypass the frigates and wreckages the best you can! Aira, the kadeshi, are they still listening and can I speak with them?! It needs to be a secured transmission that the vaygr cannot intercept!"

"We are still heeding you through the soul of the emissary, Delixa of Amaj", Aira slowly replied, "Our songs are embedded among each other. Unbelievers cannot heed our songs…"  
"Understood… kadeshi… emulator…"

"This frakking place is gonna get lonelier because this amaji cruiser is takin' off!", Orelis noted, "Let's get to it!"  
Fenna shortly wiped her face; then tightened her grips around the controls, "Here we go again!"

Moments later.  
Escaping the vaygr and their cruel allies through the trenches of obstacles was a lot more difficult than expected. Albeit having navigation and threat indication supports calculating passages and possible collisions through colorful symbols, the screens bombarded Fenna with multitude dangers. It was not easy for the young amaji.

An inexperienced, clumsy and lazy freighter pilot as she was once again making her way through the greatest terror of her life, but this time, Ray was onboard – She needed to survive, just one more time – The nightmare was running right before her eyes and the ship's fate now lay in her hands. Her cheeks were dry of tears but were now pale of fear. Explosions and other flashes lit her surroundings.

Obviously, the triad forces were now chasing the fleeing amaji cruiser. As of now, the cruiser was plunging downwards, approaching the kadeshi titan. Fenna tried not to fret, but it was its sheer size that overwhelmed her. 'Kadesha's Ark' was already a monstrous long vessel – but as they approached it, the vessel was getting larger and large, seeming as if it had no end. Even her imagination made her thought it was growing a horizon. Fenna shook her head again and blinked rapidly. Her mind was trying to force her into microsleeps – probably the worst timing ever.  
The ship was suddenly knocked by three impacts.

"Missile hits?! Report!"  
"Can't tell, sir! We were hit some three times by something - but I am not detecting any explosions or other readings!"  
"Three duds?! That is unlikely…"  
"Maybe wreckages, but I don't know how! Fenna is doing her job very well!"

_Those thuds… It felt so familiar._  
Hailynn's thoughts were disturbed, but shortly after, she called out, "Alright! We are clearing the wreckage fields! If want to get out of here, we will need to engage high speed! Zann! Engage low inertia profile! Helm, engage maximum thrust profile!"  
Both Orelis and Pethera made their ways to harnessed seats.

As ordered, the fields protecting the interior from intensive inertia effects weakened. While this happened, the ship additionally engaged another field that lowered the ship's mass to a minimum, increasing the thruster's effects to a dreadfully high rate. Everybody felt the force of thrust pushing them into their seats. The power was simply overwhelming. Hailynn curled her hands upon her injured torso, hoping she would survive the intensive and 'stick together'.

"G-Gods… This is cr-cr-crazy!", somebody commented with a shaky voice. The ship continuously accelerated.  
"Approaching vessel 'Kadesha's Ark' and the dense convoy like a friggin' shooting star!"

"Seekers of Rahji, people of Kadesha's divinity", Hailynn suddenly called out, "Please heed my voice!"  
"We heed your voice, Delixa of Amaj", Aira's voice spoke, coupled with another voice emitting from the bridge's speakers.  
"Damn they're good…", Orelis said to himself.

"As you know, the situation is at disadvantage to all of us! The vaygr forces are too powerful for 'Kadesha's Ark' and your fleet! I apologize for bringing Aira… I mean, the emissary back into such danger, but you must understand my intention of that cause! The vaygr is -"  
""We understood your intention of before, Delixa of Amaj"", both voices echoed, ""Your act set the emissary within great danger, but for a valiant cause.""

The 'Vjel-Amaj' dashed above the ruptured hull of 'Kadesha's Ark' leaving trails of smoke. Aira sensed millions of souls within. This was probably the closest she would get to this vessel. Within seconds, the vessel darted ahead at such speed like never before. A single mistake and the slightest collision would end in immediate death, but Fenna's senses were never as sharp as it was now – probably thanks to the adrenaline and fear flooding her.

"Th-Thank you… but I must beseech you, people of 'Kadesha's Ark!' You will not survive the path back to the Garden of Kadesh through the Star Gate! And even if so, the vaygr and their allies will surely follow you through and wreck havoc upon your homeworld!"  
""We thank you, protectors of the emissary… but we must continue upon our path… It is our destiny…""  
"High Emulator, I know. But this is serious! The triumvirate and the… other… wise men must understand that… that her song _will come to an end_! You will not survive if you continue! But there is possibly a way of… survival otherwise!"

""Speak.""

Hailynn paused shortly, trying to catch her breath as it was not easy with the force of acceleration working against her, "We must understand that this is a losing battle. Retreating is the smartest thing to do but you will never survive the path back to the Garden of Kadesh… The vaygr, the taiidans and turanics would viciously hunt you until you are all dead. But heed my voice, there is another way: Is the entire kadeshi armada capable of hyperjumping?!"

""You must be referring to _the ether_. Yes, her divinity and the believers can enter this world.""  
"Aira?"  
"Naji…?"  
"I am sorry, Aira, but it is likely that we will have leave this place with 'Kadesha's Ark' and its people behind. They might be following destiny, but there is a way for them to survive.

"L-Listen…", the force of flight was annoyingly strong, "You are the only person who knows where 'Kadesha's Tear' is! You're the one who can give the people the **exact** in space! The comet, Aira, the comet! I don't know where else they can hide, but the ice comet is the best place! They will survive! Seeing a ship so huge tells me that it will also tear the vaygr with them, but with that cold rage within 'Kadesha's Tear', those ships wouldn't survive long! They wouldn't be able to escape either!"

Aira remained silent.

"You've got to trust me! The vaygr will never survive the deep within! They were striving for so long trying to find evidence of 'Kadesha's Tear'! You are the evidence, you can lead them there – At last they will see with their own eyes! Even so, they could then return to the Garden with real evidence of your religion! Aira, dearest, I was never so sure in my life about something until this moment! I promise you! I WILL bring you back to your people! I will reunite you with your people! **I swear with my life and blood**: I will bring you back to 'Kadesha's Ark' and you **will** return to the Garden of Kadesh with them! I will return with Amaji Navy to support your people!"

The surrounding operatives looked at each other. Hailynn kept surprising them.

"I feel honored… my Naji. I thank you for trusting my soul. I-I… I will transmit my knowledge of 'Kadesha's Tear'."  
"Thank you, Aira – I swear to you… I swear…"

Closing her eyes, Aira entered trance and symbiosis. Sharing her thoughts and Hailynn's will with 'Kadesha's Ark', the triumvirate and the synod have decided to concur after a long time of debate. Until now, the amaji vessel was still chased by a group of ships. Though outrunning them slowly, the mass of long range torpedoes and cruise missiles were closing in on the ship. The 'Vjel-Amaj' soon entered the last hurdle consisting of several thousands of colorful gas layers.

Fenna's eyes were merely lambasted by the colorful waves of gas whipping past the ship and her screens as it penetrated the layers. The ship was still increasing in velocity that the force was already putting an outright powerful pressure upon all bodies. The ship rumbled and shook during the penetration.  
"We're making it people! Just hang on!", Hailynn kept reminding the others. Kenta frequently reported the numbers of layers remaining. Whilst the layers consisting of thousands, the ship's speed bypassed several within single seconds.

""Come back and fight, hiigarans!""  
"Haha… that guy can bitch around all he wants. Send him a transmission that he can frakk off and that we hope we never see him again!"

Emissary… Whatever may occur, her divinity will always… always be with you. Her song will guide your path. I have sensed your song… your quest. You have sorrowed for so long. Ever had you wished to unite Kadesha's sorrows… at least her tear with the Heart of Rahji. My soul… sorrows with you, emissary… Aira.  
'Kadesha's Ark' will only be able to perhaps return to the Garden of Kadesh. Rahji's heart lies somewhere beneath the shrouds of his Sanctuary… The wise synod has learnt of this through the bibles… but our fate will lead us away and back to the Garden… Emulator… Emissary… Aira… please… You may have failed, but your protectors will venture with your soul. They are not unclean. You have proven us that a kadeshi mind can prosper with non-kadeshi believers… If we had known such were possible… our past may have not been so… invasive… destructive. Alas, child, if we will ever meet again, my soul does not know. Our souls… our future lies among the path of a veiled destiny.

Tears slowly moved from the girl's cheek. The layers of gas rushed past her at such rate that it was impossible for her to see anything. The ship was fleeing. However, the thoughts of the High Emulator resembled her sorrow.

She failed. Her quest to spiritually redeem Rahji from his sorrows, that his soul was not forgotten, that Kadesha never ended her song for his sake, was a failure. It was unlikely that she would succeed in the future. Soon, she would leave his sorrows behind. Emotions were building up within her. She did not want to leave. Maybe there was a way… hopes for his salvation? Her thoughts vainly cried for Rahji.

Something touched her skin; something that felt like a single drop of water. Gas layers still rushed pass her but again, she felt another drop. Slowly but surely, they were reaching the last thousands of layers. Aira was slowly sensing the presence of stars. Surprisingly, she amazed by the fact that she was already sensing them now and as short moments flew, more stars began to reveal themselves.

**- Good Riddance -**

"521 layers of gas left! We're almost th-th-through!", Kenta announced to everybody.  
"Picking up separate star signatures – we're making it!", Quan added to her announcement.  
"Still got an unknown amount of missiles and fighters chasing us! They are still on our tail!"  
"Alright! Thank you! N-no more fooling around though! Tactical – End combat status and retract all weapon pylons! Helm – Disengage thrust profile, have all thrusters to be bulked and lastly, Engineering, extract the nacelle pylons for the execution of the 'Morovuur' hyperjump sequence! Code: Black!", Hailynn commanded, "And most of all, reengage all inertia dampenersss!"

Several people confirmed. Soon, the ship began to change its exteriors again. Using its momentum and blinding speed, the ship drifted ahead, penetrating the last hundreds of gas layers. Euphoria filled every single person as the haze slowly dissolved, revealing millions to billions of stars. The ship had finally emerged from the last layer. All sides revealed the nebulas shear endless reach.  
"Observatory! Sensory! – Your move!", Orelis shouted.  
"Attaining stellar navigation through Aira's array, sir!", Quan announced anxiously.

"Cruise missiles and heavy fusion torpedoes still inbound! They are slowly coming closer!"

"Damn it, what's taking so long?!"

"Almost through! Constellation: Poralo, Virt, Hadgemini… triangulation calculations running… We almost done! Stellar navigation achievement at 12, just a bit more and we will have a clean destination! No misleading sources – true jump!"  
"Music in my frakkin' ears!"

""Protectors of the emissary…"", Aira called out, representing the High Emissary, ""The triumvirate and the synod have brought about the decision… We will concur with the will of the Delixa. 'Kadesha's Ark' will enter the ether and will be embraced by 'Kadesha's Sorrow'. Flee, people of the Amaj. Our souls will remain deep within her sorrow… following the path of a veiled destiny.""

"People of 'Kadesha's Ark'", Hailynn lastly replied, " On behalf of the Kiith Amaj, I swear that we will return. **We will return**! You have my word…"  
""If… Rahji and Kadesha… wills, Delixa…""  
"…Pride…"

Aira fell slightly but caught herself. The embrace of Rahji was fading away from her along with the warmth of 'Kadesha's Ark' and the souls within. It was all ending. Despite the 'Vjel-Amaj's dire need of retreat, Aira was suddenly overwhelmed by her inner feelings. She burst into tears, now vainly crying to stay within his embrace.

"Stellar navigation attained! Destination jump coordinates **LOCKED**!"

"Zann, engage the 'Morovuur' procedure!"

"Aira – I know, c-calm down!", Hailynn said to her, but had no chance in calming her through words, "Fenna! Rotate the ship and have the nose pointing towards the incoming missiles!"

"WHAT?!"

"Trust me! The wavefront will protect us like a shield from those frakking missiles!"

The entire ship began to hum as all units of the hyperdrive module began to innervate the instable wavefront. Within moments, a rift became visible – however, it was crimson red rift revealing itself the fabrics of hyperspace.

"You guys have NO idea how happy I am to see THAT THING!", Orelis commented lastly.  
"EMP prevention protocol procedures to all decks underway!", Zann noted and as he spoke, all screens and activity throughout the ship began to discharge and shut down, leaving only separate vital segments of the ship online. The bridge and many segments of the ship darkened, only leaving separate screens and emergency lighting emitting light.

Hailynn still had disturbing doubts about the wellbeing of the kadeshi within the comet. Would they survive long enough until her return?

"This is it!..."

Aira cried in her kadeshi language… She did not want to leave - not now – not yet!  
"Commence hyperjump – jump – **JUMP**!"  
Fenna's controls and screens already showed several instabilities across the marks.

_The frantic kadeshi girl turned around, wanting to see 'Kadesha's Ark' – at least feel Rahji's embrace but as her hand reached forward, the cold wavefront ripped her and the ship instantly away. Everything that once surrounding her within the nebula shrunk into a dot followed by everything else as the ship entered faster-than-light transition. Only the echoes of her voice was last to be heard before the violent fabrics of hyperspace overwhelmed her…_  
The red wavefront quietly collapsed… leaving emptiness behind with missiles and other fighters dashing past the point.

Maintaining the 'Morovuur' wavefront was not simple. Fenna desperately held her hands upon the sophisticated controls trying to keep the ship's flux fields aligned to Kenta and Quan's instructions. Every three seconds an alert brought a dreadful change or ethereal void ahead that would constantly lead to Fenna's skill to decide between life and death… Hailynn frequently gave orders like never before. Kelsea immediately would divert orders to separate parts of the ship – needless to say how intense the interferences were with the limited technology available to maintain communication during hyperjump flights.

"Two minutes!"  
"We will not be surged…. We will not be surged…", Fenna quietly repeated to herself – for a change speaking optimistic. She had reasons...

Just two single minutes… an eternity for everybody who was shaken by the violent ethereal world. The hyperspace maelstrom was unimaginably endlessly huge. All stars that once were there revealed themselves as deformed bubbles and other outright awkward blurry and distorted figures – theories said that those were the gravitational reaches… but alas, nobody really knew. There was far too much interference and wild colors blocking and fooling the kushan eye.

"Keep those gravity fields aligned, Fenna! A deviation a few percent and we're dead!", Hailynn remarked again.  
"SHUT UP AND LET ME CONCENTRATE HERE!"  
"Alright-Alright!"

Despite the intensive stress going on, Hailynn felt a short moment of relief. They have survived and left the dreaded M'randara Star System behind.

"Ten more seconds…!... FIVE…. FOUR… THREE… TWO…. ONE….", Kenta counted down but paused long as she hit zero. Looking around, the enveloping 'Morovuur' wavefront was still instable… then suddenly became calmer. The ship still rocked back and forth, up and downwards, but the alerts of possible surge fields no longer occurred.

"We made it! Field is stable!", Kenta cheered, followed by other operatives feeling that moment they have sought for so many hours, if not days. They were coming home…  
Even Hailynn sunk into her seat… a slight smile… Finally.

"gasp! Are you… are you sure?! Are you sure it wasn't some short circuit?! Or – o-oh my gods! What – WHAT?! Answer me?! Operative Juko?! Juko!", Kelsea's voice stuttered loudly.

_huh…_?, Hailynn looked over but still kept her good mood. Probably something to be worried about, but nothing could really spoil her mood now. They were returning to Amaj.

_Nevermind… haha… _, she thought – even hoping she could get some sleep. Hailynn closed her eyes.

"Hey, Kelsea, what was that all about? Do we have a medical issue going on down there or what?!", an operative asked from the other side of the bridge cheerfully.

Kelsea slowly dropped several of cabled communication transmitters from her hand and shoulders… Her face remained firm, her voice only echoed, "…G-G-Gunfire…"

Hailynn stayed quiet. She was in good mood. It was all finally over - The end of the escape, the stress, the - …

Her eyes suddenly shot wide open.

_Noooooo…_

Raising her body, she immediately threw a frightened glance towards Captain Quenton Sobaan.

_It… can't… be…_

The captain did not say a word, but his reaction gave her all means of worry to be frightened of. They have come across such event years ago… one of the last events of the vaygr war that lead to great deaths upon their former ship. Hailynn threw hand through her hair.  
_How… when?... NO! Not when…._

Conclusions started to come together. She should have trusted her instincts…

"ENGAGE LOCKDOWN PROTOCOL ALPHA – THIS IS SERIOUS!", Hailynn's voice cried to the others, "**INTRUDER ALERT! WE HAVE BEEN BOARDED! MARINES TO COMBAT DEPLOYEMENT!**"


	20. Chapter 19

"Forfeit that command!"  
Almost everybody startled after hearing Pethera's voice thundering throughout the bridge. The note of hectic was still present. Others such as Fenna still shouted at each other but also tried to catch some of the sudden arguing.

"Don't get in my way again, Pethera! This is frakking serious! We are in **deep** trouble!"  
"I've had enough of your insults and blemishing acts, Delixa, and I will no longer tolerate it! You may have been successful in leading this ship out of the M'randara Star System though against **MY** will – but you are no longer capable of leading this ship as due to your psychological state!", the accusing S'jeti barked at Hailynn and approached her, "You are clearly overreacting due to your state – You should be removed from command at once!"

"Frakk off – we -!"

"Commander Orelis!", Pethera suddenly turned herself over to the man who nearly intervened, "Being the highest ranking person of kiithidial supremacy, I demand you to remove this foolish hallucinating officer at once! Do your duty as a serving authority under the supremacy!"

"…"

"By the kiithidial order or not, Orelis, she must be removed from command – Either by my voice or by military impeachment of commandership! I will no longer tolerate these pathetic actions of this woman!"

Orelis hesitated. A pause filled the entire bridge.

Hailynn was about to defend herself through arguing but something held her back. The painful confusion swarming through her mind was the least of what was holding her back from speaking. That dreadful feeling of déjà-vu plagued her. However, it was well-known that she was acting at the edge of insanity. She did not need to look at the other operatives; she knew that all of them were more than worried about her, both her physical and mental state. Though Pethera's accusing was threatening, Hailynn did begin to reconsider.

Maybe she was overreacting.  
Maybe the gunfire heard by Kelsea was a misleading sound.

As questions filled her wrecked psyche, she lowered her head in disgrace with her hand upon its side – The break from command would really do her good after all.

"Pethera – I don't care right now if Hailynn is _hallucinating_ or wrecked beyond recognition", Orelis suddenly replied, "True – Her announcing a sudden lockdown procedure to repel some… boarding 

insurgency… sounds a bit crazy.. but I'm sticking to the **facts** here: Kelsea just lost contact to somebody – She said there was some sort of gunfire!"

"D-Don't make me remove you from duty as well, Orelis… There is no real proof that -"

A noticeable and much disturbing tremor cycled through the ship, definitely not caused by the outer turbulences of hyperspace. The tremble was nonetheless powerful enough to make the ship tremor a split-second differently than the usual wild turbulences.

"Ooooohhhh-kaaay…. What the FRAKK WAS THAT NOW?!", Orelis cursed slowly.  
"Th-That was nothing -!"

"D-Detected an explosion…", one of the logistics operatives announced from the other side of the bridge.  
Straightening his wrinkled uniform, the grim officer rushed over to that side, "Explosion?! Don't tell me we were chased into HYPERSPACE! Never heard of missile attacks within hypersp-"  
"Th-The explosion occurred internally, Commander! Smoke and fire development detected within the ship! Storage section R-21B, deck eight! **W-Within** the ship!", he repeated.

Checking the screens of Zann that neighbored the logistics' operations, Orelis instantly found the section and the adjacency blinking symbols and colors. Following what the operative just said, the section was upon the starboard side somewhere at the stern of the ship.  
Worries became larger as Zann excluded the possibility of technical malfunctioning – Despite mentioning high rests of EM fields once emitting from that area, not a single primary technical cross point of such could have done such devastation. Orelis slowly lifted his head over to Hailynn…  
_Damn… How_?

"Wasn't that proof enough, bitch?!", Hailynn suddenly snubbed at Pethera, pushing her rudely aside, "Retain that order I just gave – **WE HAVE BEEN BOARDED!!**"

Practically all operatives shuddered in fright.  
"But… how?!", somebody asked as the rest conducted intruder alert.  
"Oh, they snuck on us – and I think I know how! I need a full surveillance check around our hull – starting with starboard!"

"Right away, ma'am! Will need a bit though – The low power profile will force us to an old fashion check up."  
Low quality and heavily interfered images began to phase several snapshots each second from the designated region, practically all of them revealing fabrics and energetic whips of hyperspace attempting to crush and penetrate the 'Morovuur' wavefront.

One of the operatives stared at one of the screens revealing the same messy live surveillance of the 

helm, the same that was definitely freaking Fenna: Dark blue maelstrom waves, thundering fields, _tentacles_ of unknown energy fabrics and many other unexplainable masses were constantly being thrown against the ship, terrorizing the ship… somewhat craving to surge all life onboard… At least that was the impression. The barely visible but countless billions of deformed bubbles of all sizes and forms slowly moved by as wakes and streams strung by… for sure resembling that they were indeed moving through the galaxy's body at an unimaginable speed, formidably against the alternating maelstrom.

"Delixa… You have pushed me around far enough…"

"Not now, Pethera! mmpf!"

"Ladies, please – Knock it off! We've got trouble going on!", Orelis tried to remind them of more important issues, but failed. There was something else 'serious' going on between the two sworn enemies.

A vicious grip clenched her upper arm, unfortunately precisely upon one of many bruised regions of her body and was merely torn back, forcing her to stand face-to-face with the aggravated s'jeti.

"Sniff You… disgusting… smelly… woman…", Pethera slowly spoke with a sharp tongue, "I don't care what is going on with this ship but I know it is ALL YOUR FAULT! It is your entire fault… You led us to the kadeshi… You let the vaygr onboard… You are responsible for whatever happen to this crew", she continuously crushed her arm with her grip – the pain only resembling the portion of the true pain of responsibility, "But let me put this straight, Delixa: If we survive… if you survive this intrusion… You will not escape my **grip**…"

Tension and fears already struck into the minds of various people – The ship needed to act to the threat but Pethera did not seem to care at all, her arrogant interests was all about something else and even if the ship were about to explode, she'd not refrain from what she was about to do.

Using all that has happened to this date but somewhat also what was caused by the guilt of Pethera and her subordinates, she was loading all of it upon Hailynn like a scapegoat, since she was not only Krin'sa now but also the commanding officer who inherited all responsibilities – however also being witnessed by the entire crew, letting all of them know that all deaths, all trouble was caused by Hailynn, "I will make sure you won't survive to see the next day. I assure you that I will make the kiith and the navy will **excommunicate** you – granted, your krin'sa cannot be stripped, but won't stop me from endorsing a proposal… Expect execution, woman… No mercy. I will make sure your execution will a slow and painful one, Delixa. "

Pethera's words were dreaded serious, daunting for all operatives who feared kiithid supremacy for their laws.



"Mmhmhmmmhmmmm…"  
"…", Pethera's eyes widened as she leaned back slightly. Her grip loosened slightly. Was Hailynn becoming insane?

"-hmmhmhhehehhehe – hahahaahah…", Hailynn quietly chuckled.  
"W-w…why are you… Wh-What's so amusing?! Answer me, Delixa!"

The chuckle escalated into a light-hearted and short-lived laughter, much for the irritation of Pethera who slipped her hand away from Hailynn's torn sleeve. Pethera even smiled shortly, at first thinking that Hailynn's reaction was caused by her fear – but she immediately stopped smiling, for Hailynn already proven she had more esteem than before when they were within the imperial taiidan mothership.

Pethera cursed inwardly – she missed the chance of crushing her when her will was broken.  
The irregular flashes and colorful phases of hyperspace and the wavefront frequently lit the bridge.  
Hailynn's view suddenly became serious as she gazed back at the s'jeti scientist, "That I'm as good as dead is something that nobody has to remind me about. As if I were scared about… wait… Alright – hold on. I won't deny it. I _am_ scared – but not about you, bitch of s'jet."

The s'jeti woman bit her teeth together, but was unable to reply to the insult.

"I'm scared about the well-being of my crew – so let me get this straight, **Doc-tor**. We've went through a **lot** of bullshit – and just when I thought it was over, I got fooled again. Not only I, but many others have nearly been killed – and certain deaths are accounting for my failures, no question about that one. And yet I'm still standing. I don't know… gasp for how long…"

Others shortly looked upon the two again. Hailynn's words sounded much more serious than ever, "I have doubts that I will survive this day – and even if I do, it's unlikely I will survive long enough due to my health status – which is just… funny… because you are just **hoping** for me to stay long enough alive for a kiithidial excommunication and execution… Whatever – but let me make this straight, you black-haired beauty queen: Even if I survive to that day to be brought in front a kiithidial court, **I'll be taking somebody down with me**!"

"What…?!"  
"Oh, you heard right. That son of a bitch Asad!"

Pethera took another step back. Though Asad was a subordinate, he was a much valuable personality of her corporation. In truth, the man was indeed responsible for numbers of deaths – both those of the amaj and of the corporation.  
Nonetheless, Pethera knew of his _guilt_ and could cover him through her status, but with Hailynn 

possible intervention in front of such court might have him executed as well. Furthermore, there were far too many witnesses. She needed Asad greatly, for his persona played a _far too important_ role for the corporation and its future.

"C-Contact!"

Hailynn gave one last look at Pethera before approaching the general surveillance station, placing herself behind the seat of the logistics operative, Orelis and two other supporting operators. The screen revealed a live-feed image of a certain sector on the starboard side of the hull. Despite the image's quality and lack of color, they all spotted regions where the three entropic plasma masses still continuously left awkward trails of smoke. Others also spotted this on secondary screens.

Suddenly, Orelis pointed his hand ahead, "Err… what is that?! Look – another one… Three of them!"

The shock of discovery was proof enough for the hiigaran officer to turn away, "Latched Infiltrator pods! I knew it! Shit!"  
"Boarding party…"  
"Not just a 'boarding party'… vaygr – maybe with taiidan and turanics on top of it! We're in deep shit! Orelis – those thuds, those minor impacts; those were not dud missiles! We must have bypassed stalking infiltrator frigates when we made our last getaway!", Hailynn explained anxiously, "You… You have no idea h-how much in trouble we are! It must be the warlords last order before we got away!"

Surprisingly, it seemed as if Hailynn had more fears than she previously pronounced. In addition, she had been wasting time with the loud-mouthed s'jeti scientist that she shortly forgot about the trouble.

"Somebody still has to tell me how they managed to penetrate the outer hex-armor…", Orelis asked.

"Assuming the one on the far side entered the ship, I guess they were lucky… It must have latched itself on one of the many access service ducts. We haven't really had the chance to upgrade and seal it completely, sir…", another operator explained, "I-I'm afraid I must apologize on behalf of my operation, the c-chaos we went through must have distracted all of us from the worst occurrence…"

"No need for admissions of guilt, S-O – None of your faults! Fact: It happened! Fact: Intruders onboard!"  
"Y-Yes, sir… sorry, sir…", the operator stuttered and rubbed his face.

"Zann! Activate hull polarization on that hexagon plate – a few split second intervals!", Hailynn's voice suddenly thundered across the bridge.  
"Whaaaaaaaat?! But that will cause a freakin' EM discharge through our wavefront… ma'am!", he yelled back at her, wondering if she was still sane, "That discharge would surge that area! Whoever is at that area would…"  


Hailynn need not to explain as he paused. Her shadowed face already gave him the hint that she meant it – and that it had a serious meaning. Whoever was in that area was already likely to be dead, simply caused by the fact of when the thermal heat wave struck upon those regions or when the intruders breached the area.

Silently nodding, he conducted her order and within short seconds, thin fabrics indeed penetrate the wavefront, its fields 'touching' through the pods and regions of the ship's outer armor like a ghost. As the interval ended, the wavefront immediately deflected the fabric, causing it to unusually phase into a force of energy that materialized upon the other two infiltrator pods, relentlessly tearing them from their latching points… it only took a single moment until they disappeared into endless streams of hyperspace…

No regrets.

The expected EM discharge only caused negligible damage thanks to Zann's grid decoupling procedure.

"Casualty reports coming from separate sectors and decks of the ship! Intruders confirmed!", Kelsea's voice announced, awakening Hailynn from her short daydream.

"Hailynn!", Orelis said to her, "Orders, ma'am?!"

Hailynn threw a short look upon all operatives and officers of the bridge who anxiously awaited her command. Gathering the last bits of strength, she innervated the innermost rest of concentration:

"Everybody! Both the captain and I have expressed such infiltration once during our service onboard the Talon-Vo… I'll cut myself short. The vaygr will stop at nothing. If they have a mission… an objective… they will concur with it. If they don't, they will have only one thing in mind: Exterminate everything that lives!", remembering the interrogation of a vaygr infiltrator-prisoner several years ago, before he was executed, "They will slaughter anything! Even if that means to blow the ship up, they'd blow up with it! – The eruption… that must have been a portable bomb! Frankly, they probably set up us the bomb in that one sector because of the high resonance readings of that area – Lucky for us that it was the wrong spot, but they surely won't stop now that they know nothing happened! It's likely they will be looking for better areas to sabotage!Frakking vaygr suicide commandos…"  
The threatening invasion scared most of the women listening.  
She paused shortly and shook her head, "Frakk… The vaygr must be up to a lot more. My lockdown order must be altered… We can't lockdown the entire ship… We have far too many people spread… everywhere! We will have to do it through isolation procedures, sector by sector…"



"H-Hailynn… That's a _lockdown_ procedure that will hardly work", Orelis noted, "Anybody of our crew… frell, even the refugees will run risk of confronting the intruders if we don't lock the whole place up! Frakking shit… If I had known earlier, I would have raised security to level three!"  
"It's too late for any of regrets… Our operatives and whoever down there are poorly armed and will definitely have trouble upon confrontation with the enemy – Frakk, practically nobody of them have combat experiences!", she noticed that especially those who were not strong-willed would surely end up dead just by the cause of hesitation upon confrontation.

She nervously threw her hand through her hair, "We… We need armed forces… I don't care who, but we will need a force to counter the opposing force – at least separate armed groups to defend themselves! We MUST hold sensitive and vital sectors! Areas like the Engineering Deck, Executive Deck, Sickbay… oh my gods, Sickbay… So many targets of opportunity they have – and we don't know shit! Orelis... Captain Quenton… I need your help…"

"Do not worry, Commander Delixa", the ex-captain replied, "I will attain a temporary command over tactical and support."  
"I'll do my best to establish secured points through organization and logistics, Hailey!"

"Thanks… but that's not all! We've got see it through your eyes this time, Orelis!"  
"What?!"  
"Worst case situation…"  
"Worst case… hmpf… Betcha it isn't just vaygr, but also turanics along with taiidans who hopped off that different looking pod... Granted, they're going to hit us with all they got! I have no clue how those vaygr are, but I'm sure the turanics will just run and gun… We better have some of our 'heavier' gear handed out, pronto…"

"Right… Have rifles and other heavier arms to be handed out to skilled people – but I also want the _others_ to be armed as well!"  
"Huh?!"  
"I'm talking about refugees! We need every single man or woman at arms we can get! Have logistics hand out weapons and make sure they keep those children or any other civilian away and out of trouble! And I need the marines asap!"  
"Understood…"

Taking a few steps away, Hailynn out the transceiver unit of her radio gear and called out, "Major Bahur to combat deployment! Major, where are you?!"

No response; other than a negating tone resembling a failure in establishing a communication uplink with the desired unit.



"Bahur?! Come on, man! Delixa to Major Bahur – come in, Bahur! Damn it! Where are you?! I need you now! More than ever!"  
Several operatives and even Orelis gave confused faces.

"C-Commander…?", Kelsea slowly said to her whilst lowering the handful of communication transceivers, "B-Bahur was killed in action, ma'am… H-Have you forgotten?"

"What..?"

"The taiidan mothership… I don't have exact numbers but… He and several teams of marines sacrificed themselves. W-We only have six left onboard, ma'am… Two of them at sickbay due to health issues, two others in duty supporting the refugee overwatch, one somewhere at the lower decks and one currently at… fighter bay."

That emptiness in her mind… she indeed forgot. This was not good. She was suffering slight amnesia. Reattaching her transceiver upon her shoulder unit, Hailynn slowly pulled out her handgun.

"Hailynn?"

"Orelis. Our defensive operations will not work without a skilled field commander. We can't overwatch and operate like this!", she declared while exchanging her the clip of her handgun, examining the slide and then reassembling it, "I wish to you to command armed teams to areas that lack our influences, but mainly to those areas that lack protection. I'm sure the captain will support you and vice versa! We must repel these intruders or we're history…"

"B-But Hailynn…!"

Hailynn began to walk away, "Fenna, keep it up! You're doing it great – don't let us end up getting surged, alright?!"

"No shit, Hailynn!", she barked back to her as she continuously fought with all controls and the irritating sounds, yells, blurry images and colors lambasting her senses.

"Hailynn – With all due respect, I doubt you will be able to hold them off alone! I can't -"  
"I'm sorry, Orelis – but our people need my help, as an experienced marine. I've got to get moving!", she replied and approached the rear section of the bridge.

"NAJI!"

Looking upwards, the wrecked hiigaran woman discovered the frightened kadeshi girl calling for her. The girl's face was merely drenched in tears; a single drop fell from above upon Hailynn's cheek. For 

the moment, Hailynn stared upwards with a worried face, for she had totally forgotten about Aira and the Kadeshi Seekers they left behind upon a veiled destiny. The tear upon her cheek was cold. The entire fate of her people must have broken her soul.

"Aira, dearest… I'm sorry, I know you are worried about me – but I have to go, it is my duty. I've sworn to protect the crew, your people, and you, Aira. I… I will hold my promise! We've not much time, dearest - I need you to stick to our plan, otherwise the ship will be lost in space and I dare not to risk echoing SOS over broadband frequencies! The Bentusi, Aira! You know the ship is able to dispatch a frequent subspace distress signal based on basic Bentusi frequencies through hyperspace, but it is your _ability_ that can enhance the signal much further and effectively than any of our conventional SOS beacons!"

Aira dared the attempt to climb down but Hailynn demanded her to stay where she was. There were no doubts in how much to two worried about each other.

"The 'Vjel-Amaj' needs you, Aira. Please… Sound your voice to the Bentusi. They will be our only hope…"  
Though frightened, the girl only nodded.

"Hold it right there, Hailynn!", a young woman's voice sounded from behind.  
"sigh Gods, I gotta get moving – What now?!"

Velle, the low-ranked support operative, strapped herself off of the seat and immediately made her way to Hailynn, "You're not going anywhere without me!"

"I will be having enough trouble babysitting and commanding others, Velle – You'd only be in the way!"  
"Wha-?! You're the one who needs babysitting – err…", everybody shortly turned around, "m-ma'am… Sorry, but I'm ordered to keep an eye on you! I promise I'll do my best not to get in your way and -"  
"Alright-Alright!"

A clear chime sounded through the bridge. The sound sounded digital but also naturally, like a bell echoing through a gigantic hall. Surprisingly, the chime briefly caught the attention of all others as it periodically echoed. It was surprisingly how fast Aira was able to conduct the signal.

"Thank you, Aira…"  
"Hailynn, where are we going first?!"

"Down the Executive Deck to the Armory, Velle! Orelis… and Captain Sobaan, sir… You have the bridge… Godspeed! Have additional free-hand operatives to meet up with me at the Armory – and have the marines maintain and fortify their positions!"  
"Stay alive…", Orelis lastly replied before both Hailynn and her shadowing operative disappeared 

through the bridge's rear entry point.

It was going to be a long path to make down the Executive Deck. Hurrying through the corridors, both women dodged other operatives making their way through to the other side. At this point, Hailynn already wondered if she was going even survive the stress as the chest pain and her weary legs already were slowing her down. Using her left hand, she gently held it upon the wounded rib below her bruised skin – hoping she could stick together for the upcoming terror…

_Just this one last time_…

Several minutes later.  
Gulp!  
Barely catching the strange looking object, Velle frantically stared upon the item that was just tossed towards her. Hailynn constantly moved from one aisle of special lockers to another, grabbing and spreading several other objects, such as belts and accessories for carrying light equipment.

The messed-up hiigaran woman frequently moaned while desperately trying to hurry. Velle was already handed a small backpack and a belt with a small storage pouch on its right side, obviously filled with several first aid gear and other tools.

Ironically, she was out of breath already – Hailynn likely the same, even with her injuries… but the inner urge of duty fueled the hiigaran's willpower. Trouble was spreading already, that was for sure – and subduing these hideous terrorists was going to be the most difficult task.

Observing the commander, the woman in the severed uniform hasted to swap several specific clips for her special handgun, shoving other things into her belt. Especially the men were surprised as she shortly threw her stained and torn uniform jacket aside, revealing nearly all bruises and injuries she suffered from. Hailynn pointed at the others to grab light protective vests. The vest itself did not really offer much protection but was the only thing the armory had available for all of them. Hailynn's thoughts reminded her of those frightening vaygr repeaters from her past… those devastating handheld weapons.

Staring downwards, Velle recognized the same ugly grey-silvery scheme of those weapons certain people of the amaji military onboard used; a drum-fed weapon with a flexible forward grip stock that was much shorter yet slightly bulkier built than the common rifle.

Surprisingly, the young operative was fooled by the fact that it was much lighter than she previously expected. Velle and the others within the section caught their balance as the ship bounced back and forth, obviously caused by turbulences of the ongoing hyperjump light. This flight was **much** rougher than her first one.



"Damn it painful moan, can't Fenna keep this damn ship flying straight for _once_?!"  
"H-Hailynn, what am I supposed to do with this?!"  
Hailynn dropped her shoulders, somewhat throwing an annoyed look, "You wanted to babysit – that's what you get, operative – so do your job. It's an 'Arson Security' 5mm Automatic weapon – Arsec Mark II. A simple favorable lightweight sub machine gun suitable for any situation with a high capacity. We're going to need -"

Velle clumsily lowered the weapon, nearly dropping it accidentally, "B-but I'm an operative – a support operative, not a soldier… marine whatever! Let somebody else who's skillful enough tol handle these things! Just let me be your 'mule'! I'll carry anything else but this thing!"

"Don't give me that -", Hailynn fell slightly forward as the ship shook once more, unfortunately forced ahead, knocking against Velle who held the weapon up, then thrown back slightly, "Every-god-damn-time…", she cursed as she dropped upon the bench that was luckily between lockers of the aisle, curling herself due to the pain. Hailynn shook her head; how was she going to survive this one?

"Look, I will help you the best I can, but I'll never get used to guns. I'm just an S-O. Remember, what happened back then on the taiidan mothership, boss…"

The more mature woman grabbed her dirty jacket again, "Stop calling me… boss… - Velle, listen, we can't fool around with these invaders hoping on some sort of peaceful agreement, alright?! I don't care if you don't want to kill – we're going to need everybody and I know you support operatives can handle this sort of gear, so cut the damn pacifism… Look, I'm too _handicapped_ to carry and use that firearm myself without getting hurt. I'll be the eyes, you my shooter – Got that?!"

Hailynn stood up again and shortly demonstrated the younger woman and others who watched from behind how to handle the weapon, hectically yet skillfully showing how to exchange the drum and simple functions.

Lastly, she arranged the belt upon Velle's shoulder as a hanging comfortable mount, "It's a simple automatic gun that is capable of spraying rounds without requiring its user to need extensive training or strength – Now you've got to be careful with that thing nevertheless! I have doubts the standard rounds will do any damage since those vaygr gunners tend to be running in combat armor… We don't have time to put this armory upside down for special rounds – master-of-arms said we're short of them other the handgun clips. Everybody else who is limited to a handgun should be careful with it! And remember, our first objective is get everybody out of the danger zones!"

"How come you know so much about these _guys_, commander?", somebody asked behind of the group.  
"Talon-Vo, a frigate I served on when - what was that?!"

Suddenly disturbed by a mechanical sound, everybody noticed that something was happening around the far corner of the aisle, occurring somewhere behind the wall. Immediately waving and 

whispering the others to stay back, Hailynn armed her sidearm. Sounds of digital access and disassembling mechanical latches occurred.

Thoughts already bombarded Hailynn's mind.

_How did the vaygr get here so fast_?! – or was it…

Making a swift approach around the corner, Hailynn and other operatives who followed after all rushed around the corner, catching the figure doing something at the wall by surprise as they aimed their sidearms.  
_Friend or foe?!_, a decision was needed to be made – but before Hailynn actually found an answer, she forced her left hand to knock her aim away. Her right hand trembled with a twitchy finger so much that she feared of doing something wrong.  
Thankfully, it was not a foe…

"FREEZE!", an operative nervously shouted loudly ahead.  
"EEEP!", the figure shrieked with a soft voice, barely recognizable due to the weakly lit area.  
"…Freeze… sigh Who are you?! Identify yourself!", Hailynn asked, "huh?".

Caught and scared by the surprise, the person who was halfway out accidentally tripped out of the open hatch of the wall upon the floor.  
"oooowwwuuch!", the _familiar_ voice of a woman queasily moaned.  
Relieved of anxiousness and a nearly-made mistake, Hailynn recognized the colored uniform; an operative's uniform, designated in dark green with certain additional indicators resembling the person was a logistics officer.

The woman raised her head, "Oooh… Hi everybody!", she greeted friendly with a note of astonishment while having the side of her head facing the floor. Everybody lowered their aim as the woman ahead of them hasted to stand up, talking of many things at once, "Scared the frell out of me, everybody, hah! Didn't expect that many of you here! Oh dear, that was a close one!"

The female operative held a shotgun in her left hand as she slammed the hatch into the wall, then immediately leaned against it, somewhat showing the others not to think about heading that way, "Now… DON'T go down there – freakin' chaaaaos down there, mates!"

Ignoring her talking, Hailynn activated a handy flashlight, letting the beam illuminate the face of the woman, "F-Fenna?!", she called out, but then noticed the short and open black hair, "Ah no… Deena – You… here?!"

The superior logistics officer who clumsily kept herself blocking the hatch lifted her head, trying to look beyond the flashlight's beam, "Hey, that – That you, Commander Hailynn Delixa?! Hahaha, oow, what a coincidence. Big ship, small town, eh? Didn't expect you here, ma'am! Lucky me! Glad you and others are here!"  


"Whoa-Whoa wait!", Hailynn replied and frowned with a puzzled face, "Just _what_ are you doing here?!"

"Haha… yeah – Oh yeah, DON'T go down there – it's pure chaos! I say!", she replied and lifted herself and the shotgun, "The logistics deck was the first place hit by those bad guys, boss – Two heavily armed vaygr infiltrators alright! One of them broke off to some other area of the ship – couldn't tell much because they started chasing me and a few other mechanics down the corridors before! Ooowww… I'm still anxious", she frantically spoke, yet in a strange _happy_ way as she pat her chest and caught her breath, "The boys suggested to get the refugees out of the line of action but we confronted one of the infiltrators on the way again… We led a group of them to another storage room that had access to the portside of the ship. Since we needed help, with communication hindered and several refugees and other people not able to climb, I went by myself through the service ducts hoping I could find some help!"

"You managed to get all the way through those confusing tubes?!", an armed operative asked from the side.  
"Yeah, made it here, as you can see – Should've gone the technical path as an operative, huh, pal? But hey, logistics, mate, better pay makes my day!"

"Cut the talk, Deena! This is serious!", Hailynn reminded.  
"Yes yes! Anyways, as obvious as the lousy piloting skills of my twin sister, hehe, we were practically outgunned although we were a bunch-a-people. I told them to make a run for it while others and I tried to hold off the vaygr as long as we could. We ended up in that storage room like I said – they should be elsewhere on that deck now, commander! I didn't want to save my hide, honestly! - I was going to have the equipment service lift here at the armory send down some stuff for protection!"

"Good thinking, Deena. Look, I'm glad you're alive and safe. But just hearing your story is making me worried. Five of them already wandering around – Orelis' instincts say there are likely to be more of those punks, perhaps turanics and taiidans. Looks like they did invade through the starboard side of the logistics deck after all and that they bombed storage thinking it was a primary power node."  
"Communication is beyond its capacity, too. I'm sure our boys at the bridge are doing their best and that the connectivity between you and them should be priority – but there are a lot of people out there that need serious help, boss. "

"I know, you are right. We've got to get the hand of this place before they can continue! Since when do logistics officers have shotguns as sidearms?"  
"Ohh, having a small stash is always a good rule for us logistics people to follow, heh-heh. Anyways, aside to the very few people who were at the cargo, who we evacuated too, we were forced to lockdown crew quarters to ensure the vaygr can't bust through to them. Unfortunately, we have soooo many things and cargo everywhere on the deck that it is sorta… bulky. We even had difficulties getting through ourselves!"  
"Don't tell me you logistics people stuffed the entire deck full of all that stuff from that mothership?!"  
"Ehhh hehehehe, umm… yes."  


Hailynn rubbed her face, what a mess-up.  
"sigh Never mind. So we have two vaygr eradicators confirmed…I'm going to contact bridge for more info about other security forces and groups in serious need of help. They should have an assessed the situation by now. Let's get to it!"  
"Rrrrroger."

Chapter 19 (Part 1 of x)

_Grips entangle Hailynn like tentacles; her eye only recognizes figures immobilizing her limbs, leeching her strengths as she vainly try to resist them. Hailynn shrieks as her mind barely recognizes the figures – people she had confronted throughout her life; faces of sworn, but also feared enemies morph several times. The sole being soon falls into a state before feeling impending darkness covering her view - lost in a world of nightmares… memories … but also of unexplainable events._

**- A Hiigaran in Vaygr's way -**

A preceding moment…

A small weapon slips from her hand. Hailynn's swollen cheek met the rough floor with a hard and painful smack. It took several moments until the mechanical decompressing sounds of the disposal unit finally occurred. The bubbly logistics officer Deena finally conducted Hailynn's plea from a remote location, which probably saved her and the ship from the worst catastrophe. Yellow warning lights still reflected upon the only eye that was left open. After the bleak moment of acute amnesia, the woman's mind was only able to percept the other noise of this huge room – Power injectors… somewhere… running at maximum output, humming energy and inducing fields… a crucial area… but why was she here? Why did she feel this strange feeling of longing victory after hearing the decompression sounds? Why was …

"gaaasp…wheeze…….gaaaasp…", her lung craved desperately.

Hailynn's right eye ran a constant stream of tears that stung by each scratch they crossed. She did cry for many things; pain, misery and for certain people… but also due to the effect of her environment.  
The floor she fell upon was aggressively hot as the skin of her face, regions of her fairly open torso as well as her legs absorbed the painful heat; the surrounding air consisted of an immense thick and hot gaseous mass, sparingly scarce of precious oxygen. The pressure of heat made her sweat like never before, merely sapping her life through every pore of her body. Hailynn licked her bruised and bleeding lip, but that did not help at all.



The heat… That dreaded heat. Radiation… Of course!  
A piece of memory recalled. This entire area was still flooded by the thermal radiation caused by one of the three… three… She could not remember. The outer hull still had thermal masses radiating its energy into the ship's interior. The sector was a crucial weak spot.

That smell… The smell of burned plastic, molten electronic equipment, but also that repulsive smell of corpses in burnt amaji uniforms stung her nose. A raging firefight against further intruders. Faint memories flashed a path full of unrecognizable people of her crew that scarred her psyche.  
Hailynn tried to breathe even deeper but felt a dreaded stab within her.  
Unfortunately, the multitude of injuries was practically the least of her problems due to a serious fracture that occurred internally… A short moment of fear overcame her. One of her lungs must have been penetrated... Shocking enough, it was clear to her now that the collapsing of the lobe of the lung was inevitable – perhaps already undergoing… slowly. She did not know much about internal injuries, but judging what she was warned of, her breathing could fail any moment too soon. The pure soreness of the right side not only gave her the allusion but also assured her that the lung was no longer functioning right. Urges forced her to cough droplets of fluids.

Long before had she thought that her looks could not get any worse… but she was mistaken. She was merely _destroyed_.  
Hailynn suddenly shrieked inwardly. A Vaygr… a single tall but unrecognizable vaygr gunman… Her eye barely could percept the body that was not far from the disposal duct. Another flow of perforated and confusingly mixed images recited memories into her mind. She chased this hulking intruder at first. A long fight… much more intensive than the one long before against a turanic soldier...

After spoiling the plans of the first intruder by fooling and gunning him down at a dead-end corridor, she later chased this second infiltrator from the logistics deck to the lower engineering sector known as an intersection to the engineering deck. Her aiding operatives could not keep up with her. The vaygr had a plan – She simply had to sacrifice her health for the sake of the ship. Her entrusted operatives neither matched the strength nor the experience to take on such a violent opponent.

The sake of the ship… something she said… something she now attempted… She seemed to have turned the tide of the battle. She was the one being chased now, dodging obstacles upon her way with farces of acrobatic movement, fooling her chaser by jumping through a low-gravity corridor, sometimes even bashing through smaller containers that stood in the way, running amidst the path of corpses – lastly herself being assaulted and chased by the armored intruder she desperately tried to elude as she stole something _crucial_ from him before.  
She had been assaulted several times. The vaygr attempted to break her bones… she eluded his lethal endeavors - somehow.

The armored body had several deformed holes, definite signs of direct hits from small but violent explosive rounds. Slightly remembering that she used explosive rounds, the 

burning rash across her hand must have occurred when she pulled the trigger causing a blast at point blank range – explainable by the burns across her right hand.  
Luckily, she also remembered she had blasted the gunman's repeater into pieces – It did not matter much since such vaygr intruders were considered weapons themselves. She did not know when it happened – only could she guess that the suit no longer gave him sufficient protection. It seemed as if the deformed plating left him vulnerable for Hailynn's hidden weapon to land several critical hits – judging all sources of her bruises, she must have engaged a last serious close-combat tackle against him before his death.

Aside to these broken hints and memories, she had no other explanation for her condition.  
The woman's face then changed into a mix of uncontrolled emotions. Her mind suddenly wrecked havoc, least to say that her blood was being bombarded by uncontrollable release of hormones caused by her body craving not only for mercy and oxygen, but also for the dreaded fix… death's intriguing cocktail known as the drug mixture 'cortisine'. Until now, Hailynn had to understand the fact that she must have gone berserk… again. Again, that _other self_…

Hailynn was being observed by a single remote surveillance camera that seemed to be last one that resists the intensive heat values. Feeding others with live but blurry footage, people observed what was happening to the hiigaran who now suffered some sort of seizure. Two frail voices echoed amidst this large room filled with containers and many other sealed items that were displaced everywhere. Voices crying, shouting… She could not listen well.

Undergoing this bizarre event, Hailynn frantically tried to lift herself… ironically, it was not only the general pain or the inner injury of torso that forced her down. Her left shoulder… The shoulder radio unit was shattered beyond recognition.

There was only one thing that she could recall: A single round of the vaygr's repeater that punched through several things before smacking her down with a crushing blow upon her shoulder. Severe fractures… The unit must have saved her from penetration but the physics still played its role of devastating force. Both legs trembled. The exhaustion rendered them nearly immobile.

Her mind recouped another bit. Disposing a large bomb into a duct, arguing with a dimwit officer woman – killing the vaygr at last... saving the ship as the bomb was disposed within a single moment into the eternity of hyperspace.

**Chapter 19 – Aftermath**

**- The last hurdle -**

Capsizing into an awkward position, the amaji cruiser enveloped by the 'Morovuur' wavefront and the endless torrential streams and fabrics of the violent dimension known as hyperspace began to rotate and yaw, causing the repelling forces to increase at a dangerous 

rate.

Innervated fields began to fluctuate as the ship engaged this bearing that now seemed as if the ship was flying diagonal – and as it remained at this point, the intensity of the crushing forces caused its malicious effects throughout the entire ship.

Merely lambasted by the alerts and red flashes, Fenna desperately cried as she fought trying to keep the ship's fields together. Despite the harmonic 'Morovuur' theory, nobody ever expected the sudden capsizing to cause such devastating fluctuations. The streams of hyperspace flew in such an awkward angle that it was simple for her and the crew to guess that the ship was flying diagonal against the stream, most likely causing a much higher _resistance_ than its previous position. Screams came from all sides. Luckily, inertia fields only fluctuated in remote sectors of the ship.  
The chime of Aira's signal continuously occurred in the background that required all of her concentration.

Contacted by a requesting signal, Kelsea immediately forwarded the signal to Orelis, who surely had enough problems at hand, "Commander!", she yelled as she desperately tried to brace herself from the turbulences, "En-Engi… Chief Brogan on the line – Urgent! He is a-awaiting your -"

"Alright! Second-in-Command here, Brogan, go ahead!"  
""I have no idea what is going on or what your pilot is doing – but we're in deep trouble, Orelis!""

"Duh…! We've got some intruders onboard!"

""Cut the crap, man!"", Brogan's severely garbled voice yelled over the commline, ""As long as you keep those suckers off my zone – but we have a totally different matter to worry about: **Conduit breach imminent**! I repeat – **Conduit breach imminent**""

Several others threw astonished faces.

""Bridge – I don't know about you, but we've got to make a choice here! The ship is about to fall apart - and believe me, it will happen! Coils are already at the edge of shattering – Fields about to collapse all at once – Hyperspace fabrics crushing the whole ship – Great frakking engineering… Guys, we need to end this… and we need to end this now!""

"'End this'?! Damn it, Chief, do you know what that means?! We would end up in -"

More people became aware of their conversation.  
""What's better, CO?! Torn into pieces, killed by some reactor explosion, crushed by hyperspace or… lost in space, huh?!""

"If you are considering a dropout from hyperspace, forget it, man! We'll be stuck in deadspace – and who really knows if the Bentusi will find us! Besides, Hailynn assured us that the wavefront would bring us from A-to-B, no matter the frakking costs! We've got to stick to that fact!"  
The ship frequently bounced up and down. Orelis already had a hard time trying to listen to 

the Chief's concerns as Fenna and others barked and yelled.

""All due respect to Commander Hailynn, but she's missed a goddamn point! Oh sure, the wavefront will continue its glorious way to hyperspace – with or WITHOUT us!""  
"What you say?!"

""You heard right, Orelis! This ship's capability of holding on this wavefront is dying out – if we hesitate **any longer**, the worst that could and most likely WILL happen is that the ship will simply slip out of its own shielding wavefront once it loses a certain amount of its maintaining gravity field harmonics. I don't know about you, but if we had the choice of dying, I'd rather take a reactor explosion than getting devoured by hyperspace – honestly! But we still have a chance, Orelis – dropping out of hyperspace… our only chance!""

"Dropout… you say…"

""Is there a goddamn echo up there?! YES, DROPOUT to normalspace… Make your time!""

Orelis hesitated. Hailynn's plan of riding on this crazy wavefront was all they had for their hopes to return to amaji space – but Brogan knew his work; this wavefront would continue anyhow, regardless if something is riding it or not. Despite her 'Plan G' or whatever backup plan she had, lost in deadspace was not really a desired situation for any being.

The vast emptiness of space and getting stuck there belonged to one of the greatest fears of anybody. Zann already announced each and every occurrence happening to the ship's interior systems. The ship's propulsion and other field generating segments were deteriorating and soon to abruptly dissipate. His grip tightened around the transceiver.

The angered officer slowly turned his view towards the others.  
Frightened operatives everywhere. Even that 'strong-willed' s'jeti woman next to him who tried to act fearlessly all this time through was way beyond from that appearance; It was crazy holding the bars above whilst standing next to the station that dealt with internal operations – but furthermore, Pethera instinctively had been clenching herself upon Orelis' arm... to his annoyance.

_Why couldn't she simply stay seated_?

The ex-captain also gave him a short gaze in return before continuing his supporting coordinating commands to other stations. His gaze was enough of an answer and opinion.  
Nonetheless, Orelis needed to make a choice of his own. They have come this far. Shortly taking a look ahead, Orelis stared for a single moment upon the main screen revealing the awkwardly rushing hyperspace streams.

With each second throwing them another light year closer to home, did they really have any chance in knowing when they would be home? It could be any moment, it be another load of hours later… Having no other choice, Orelis had to accept the fact that this part of Hailynn's plan was nearing failure, "Alright… We must accept the fact that the ship's gone beyond her point. She's done a lot of us and its time we accept that fact. We will have to concentrate on 

these suckers that boarded our ship once we're off this wavefront!"

""She – she – she - Whatever. Just a damn ship!""  
He paused, as others looked upon their commanding officer.

"Chief… Commence hyperspace flight **termination**! Announce warnings to all decks! We are going to force-terminate hyperspace profile!"

Once again, all operatives astounded.

""Finally, something that makes sense since these last days… Consider it done, bridge! Nothing easier than that! Engineering, over and out!""  
"Hang tight everybody! This could get rough…"

**- The Fall -**

Materializing after a storm of clashing energies caused by the rift between time and space, the once elegantly-looking vessel finally emerged from the alternating ethereal maelstrom of hyperspace, leaving separate trails of smoke, particles of gas and other rests of fabrics slowly dissipating.

Hyperspace merely tried to tear this lone ship back into its world, but lastly vanished as the last field collapsed. Mauled by battles, natural forces of both space and hyperspace, the once beautiful appearance of the barely surviving 'Vjel-Amaj' withered quietly as the three plasmatic masses continued their entropic decay upon its hull. After a period of stabilization, the ship suddenly revealed certain regions.

Within moments, separate long segments and a primary unit were released, jettisoned into the open space.

Everybody of the bridge witnessed the event of the breaching hyperdrive conduit, its module and the coil-shattered nacelles being ejected into space – soon followed by hardly visible explosions, sparks, smoke and other events occurring upon each released unit. Ironically, these distinct and downright small explosions, whilst not being destructively huge ones, would have cascaded into a series of devastating results upon the ship. Cold shivers ran down the spine of many people. A vital core fragment of the ship had just died out. Hence, this event led to the fact that the 'Vjel-Amaj' was not only somewhere lost in the middle of nowhere, but also crippled, unlikely to return into hyperspace on its own from now on.

After long peaks of crisis, the crew experienced the foil of all dangers; the last attempts of the intruders were reported as 'prevented'…

News spread across the ship in a matter of moments. Victory. Finally, _victory_. They all had been longing for this moment. For this moment, everybody did not worry about the current situation of the ship being crippled of its propulsion systems.



Contagious cheers spread with ease, noticeable by the practically every crewmember hugging, handshaking, high-fiving, pouring grief through tears but also through silence. Feeling the grip still trembling upon his arm, Orelis straightened himself as he looked down upon Pethera, "…"

It took her some moments to come back to her senses; strange enough to have her clenching his arm all this time through. He hated this woman so much and yet he wondered why she had always been around him throughout the last conflict up to now. Most likely not noticeable by the surrounding people, Orelis was the only one who sensed the inner fear of this woman who always portrayed herself as a – if not, the - fearless representative of an empirical corporation and kiith.  
Her closeness felt indeed strange and it took her a long while until she pulled herself together. Lighting slowly filled the bridge, inviting calmness to its surroundings.

"I… I…"  
"Nevermind. Doc-tor."  
"…", quielty hiding her blushing face.

Noticing his view turning elsewhere, Pethera wondered why he suddenly smiled as he rubbed his three-day beard, "What is so _amusing_?!", she quietly asked – expecting a teasing smirk, probably since she had been latched around his arm for so long.  
Ironically, he responded differently, "No more gas."

Focusing her view accordingly to his words, Pethera discovered what he meant. All screens revealed nothing but colorful stars, small nebulas, formations and many other stellar appearances myriads of light years away.  
None of the navigation or observatory systems were online at this moment, leaving them a live image of the surrounding space, unhindered by gases or any other visual obstacles. Inwardly, Pethera was angry that this ship had left the M'randara Star System on behalf of the other dreaded hiigaran woman she hated so much, but managed to contain her temper.

Orelis suddenly left her behind as he moved ahead towards the front of the bridge, aiming for the helm. Strange that the crazed pilot ahead had not given any sign of victory or cheer.

"Hey, Ensign. Ensign Fenna. What's wrong – haven't heard a single word from -", he spoke as he approached her sophisticated station and just before he was about to touch her shoulder, his hand froze, "-you?"

_Snoring_.

Lying with her back upon the large seat, her head upon her shoulder with an open mouth, Fenna had fallen into such deep sleep that nothing, not even the loudest cheer, could awake her. The exhaustion, the stress of days, all of it came back to her. Just a single moment long, Orelis was about to explode.

_The damn girl fell asleep at the line of duty again_…

But he paused. What was he thinking? Despite all the adventures this ship had gone through and Hailynn being unable to pilot the ship, this frantic uneasily amaji youngster nonetheless had managed to ride this ship through a comet, warzones and hyperspace – even to the despair of others and her own.

Line of duty…  
Who had not already exceeded the shifts for the cost of their health and for the sake of the ship?

Orelis shook his head. An inexperienced freighter pilot with a much-flawed record and stripped of her license managed to get them so far.

The officer quietly patted her shoulder without awakening her and smiled. She deserved this sleep, pretty much as well as everybody else on this ship.

"Huh?"

Again, Orelis noticed a disturbing silence across the bridge. Turning around, he discovered the kadeshi girl who stood at the center of the bridge. Operatives wondered why she stood there, but it was her usual frightened looks that could bring greatest concerns to any person without doubts. Surprising how fast she climbed down from her station.

"My… my naji- Hailynn… She is in danger…!", her frail voice said to him.

"Holy… I almost forgot", he replied, totally forgetting that Hailynn and countless others had been fighting within the ship, "Kelsea, survey – Contact Delixa!"

"Do not worry, Commander Orelis. I will maintain coordination of rescue and medical teams", the ex-captain said who sat further behind the girl, assuring support and taking most of the other ship's concerns from his back.  
"Thank you, Captain."

After a short moment, Kelsea declared her signal for lost. Receiving slight hints from the operatives she questioned, she gave further information to the surveillance station that backtracked Hailynn's possible path.

"What? What?!", Kelsea said into her headset, "Wait – okay okay, hold on, calm down! - Commander Orelis, I've got Chief Logistics Deena Amaj here on the comm – You better hear this, sir!"

"What are you waiting for, patch her through!"

"One moment… alright, go ahead, Chief."



Orelis rubbed his face again, expecting another insane conversation.

""Bridge, Chief Deena here… Hey, how's my sister, by the way.""  
"Fell asleep, no worries. Deena – Report, what's going with Hailynn?! What about the others?!"

Deena made a long pause, not really sounding as 'bubbly as usual, ""B-Bridge. We have confronted the intruders while we relocated a whole bunch of refugees and other non-combatants out of danger zones throughout the last stages of this invasion. One of them, a vaygr – of course not to be confused _our_ beloved Ray – attempted another bomb planting.  
I-I do not know what really happened, sir. Hailynn attacked the man on her own, forcing him to take on her rather than the others – She left us behind for our safety – only a separate few tried to keep up. The commander eventually fooled the vaygr gunman by taking the bomb unit with her. She also survived a direct shot that was repelled by her shattered communication unit.  
That was where the others sort of lost track of her - but then… Hailynn demanded me through a fixed intercom to activate clearance and conduct the disposal of an object through the disposal duct 'P-09 Gamma 13-i 5-o' … a separate sector located between the logistics and the engineering deck – s-starboard. It all happened while we were still in hyperspace.""

"Stand by, Deena Track that info, pronto!", Orelis demanded.  
The good mood already vanished. Many were wounded and killed… but the worst of their commander's story was about to be told.

""Commander Orelis, excuse me, pal – but the sector I am referring to belongs to one of those hit by the h-heat wave"", Deena continued, ""It is still _contaminated_ by thermal radiations emitting from the those plasma… glob things… upon our ship's hull. It was the only closest place for her to dispose the bomb as she did not know how much time was left. That was also the moment she ordered me to return with an escort to the logistics command center. We better hope she made it out and -""

"Whoa, whoa – thanks Deena, but hang on. Survey's got something, they found her. Standby and uphold the commline, we're going to send you the feed."  
""Rrrrroger.""

While Orelis walked over to the surveillance station again, Kenta approached the kadeshi girl, whose face was still with tears, wanting to calm her down. Kenta felt sorrows for this girl. This whole crazy adventure was beyond anybody's expectation, but furthermost, the girl had already undergone severe hardships.

With the fate of Shodanii plaguing her, the 'kiith' of her people being slaughtered and their future left unknown, Hailynn was the only figure left to guide her. She was in need of guidance. Surprisingly, Kenta hugged a kadeshi girl for the first time in her life.

"Oh… oh my gods…", one of the surveillance operatives mentioned as he discovered the figure lying upon the floor on his disrupted screens. The live feed images frequently 

fluctuated and fuzzed. Using his skills, he filtered the disturbances the best he could to allow a frequent flow of the feed to result.  
The thermal readings of the sector were dangerously high. Though it had lowered slightly, it was still beyond sustainable levels for a being. Shocking images revealed themselves. No doubt, the figure was Hailynn Delixa.

"S-Shit! Patch us through to her!"

Kelsea immediately settled the communication downlink to the desired section, using the only technical speaker that was left operational followed by Orelis and Deena wanting her to respond. As the surveillance camera zoomed in, all viewers began to discover the how devastated she was, suffering under some sort of seizure.

"Oh my…", Kenta whispered, hoping she could hide the terrifying images away from the eyes of Aira – but no chance at all, Aira somehow had already sensed Hailynn's health being endangered long before they even noticed what was happening. Tearing away from Kenta's embrace, Aira began to cry out for the suffering hiigaran.

Everybody witnessed how she vainly fought to get up. She was seriously injured.

"D-Damn it! Where are the rescue teams?! We need medics – and we need them now!", Orelis yelled at the other operatives.  
"Sir – Medics and other teams are spread everywhere across the ship! Th-They are too far away!"

"Don't give me that shit! Send somebody over!"

"Come on! Somebody! Somebody…", he shouted as his view turned over the screens again. Everybody frenetically witnessed the suffering woman slowly crawling to the exit, craving for air amidst this perilous environment. Surrounding operatives frequently repeated, 'Keep moving! You can do it! Come on!'…

The voices… She barely heard them, incomprehensible – yet they cried for her as they seemed to observe her very slow attempt of crawling prone. Hailynn forced the last out of her body. Gasping like never before, she slowly advanced with each movement being nearly an everlasting torture as she approached the exit path. Thoughts now flooded her mind. Her will was fading.

Not only was her lung failing on her, she also began to panic. The promise, her sworn pledge… how was she to fulfill it?

Her heart hammered like never before, least to say it was about to arrest. Every muscle was seizing with each breath she tried to take. The drought never ended.

Unfortunately, it was too late. Hailynn stopped at a certain point. She was not going anywhere from here on – No chance at all. Slowly but surely, she raised her hand…



Amidst a single second, Hailynn's mind soothed. She was not going to survive. Hailynn may have saved the ship – unknown if the remaining intruders would cause further damage -, but her fate was clear.

The screams emitting from the speakers began to fade, somewhat noticing that she was losing the will to live. She would not survive. Seizing all movements, the devastated hiigaran officer of the Kiith Amaj focused her eye upon the camera that still signaled a red dot resembling its activity. She sought for the girl of sorrows, Shodanii, the people lost in their veiled destiny, the everlasting song of the ship and her crew.

Her breathing became dangerously flat.  
At this tense moment, Hailynn no longer felt the heat burning upon her skin.

Her life faded with the darkness slowly filling her view, left with a last breath, her shaking hand gave three symbolic gestures of farewell before it fell lifelessly upon the floor – each of them representing the Kiith Amaj… _Brotherliness, Freedom… Pride._

The sudden occurrence even scared Pethera for the moment, but furthermost, she slammed her clenched fist upon the side of a panel… with mixed thoughts and feelings plaguing her mind. Others remained speechless, stunned by the body that now laid there… lifelessly.

The soul of the kadeshi girl suddenly shattered. She screamed so long and loudly that it scared almost everybody of the bridge. To the surprise of everybody else throughout the amaji cruiser, a long-going power fluctuation suddenly affected the entire ship that nearly forced auxiliary power to be engaged and took several moments until the basic power grid recovered.

Aira became hysteric, losing control of herself. Before anybody was able to react, the girl ran off, exiting the bridge.

Orelis immediately ordered the operatives to monitor and intercept the girl - but unfortunately was told that the entire communication grid and several other systems collapsed due to the intensive fluctuations. Running off like this was not good – The ship was not completely secured yet. Nonetheless, she needed to be alone… for she has lost another beloved soul…

_The soul of her beloved naji._

Part 2 of 3

**- Agony -**

(A narrative voice speaks)  


The beginning, the end. The flow of life ends at the beginning of death. Both life and death reign the galaxy. The will struggles the soul's instincts of self preservation; nonetheless, death still pulls the soul once the body cannot hold this soul. One may beg for mercy, but death follows its own… _intention_. But what leads life and death? A question that remains unanswered. Beings will reform speculations, either of scientific fact or religious belief, but will never come to conclusion.

Cells of the body that deteriorate and fail at a given time? Deities reining the choice whenever to take a soul? Some believe their fate can be altered by prayers, others claim to accept what comes. Whichever may be right, they accept that the soul may accept death's invitation some day. Despite the soul that may accept some day, it is death to decide when. Can fate still be altered if the soul is rejected?  
(end of narrative speech)

The battered 'Vjel-Amaj' quietly floated amidst the emptiness, surrounded by the galaxy's endless beauty of stars and other distant formations. The glowing of plasma masses have deteriorated slightly, but were still present. Echoes of sorrowing song still emitting throughout subspace…

_Another figure approaches from the side, gets down and closer to the view point. Instincts suddenly react along with the senses returning… Overwhelming pain strikes the being's body, taking much efforts of influences led into her blood, soon soothing the pain and staggering the from further movement._

A world of misery rushes amidst the mind. Misery is called upon memories of the past, but also scaring premonitions of the future. It is too late. Unable to alter the future, the being is assured that it can no longer change fate and accepts death - but death hesitates … 

The eye slowly opened again, its pupil revealing a filled black dot almost at the edge of the iris. Mumbling. Long Moaning.

A blurry halved view, another figure is seen.  
A strange beam of light slides by, calling the soul to return to itself… flash… wave… flash… Voices… more voices. Impulses of senses shortly spike, causing short twitches.

_The being's mouth suddenly opens and takes a deep breath caused by sudden agony, nearly holding the breath as it raised its right arm to its left eye. The view remains halved – Pitch black... The nothing reveals an eternal darkness. The pain that suddenly returns is immense, felt as a stabbing knife penetrating deeper with each second. Within a single moment, pain spreads everywhere upon her body, pulsing at such tremendous rate that the mind begs for mercy and salvation._

"D-Doctor – don't inject that… give painkiller instead- please!", a woman's voice pled.  
"Useless – I've given far too many painkilling injections! I've exceeded the limit – if I inject one more, her cardiovascular system will collapse… must have develop some damn immunity, but this is my last hope…"  


_Ironically, something solid but as thin as a hair strain penetrates the arm, the sting does not cause any reaction as the surrounding pain clutches her entire body. Voices praying, hoping the last resort would end the torture. Soon, the influence that is led into her body begins to cause.. soothing. Her body has been craving for this influence for a mere eternity. The longing has come to an end as the body is merely bombarded with emotions of inner euphoria and rapture and as moments pass, the pain fades… and with it, death's hand. Her time has not come… yet._

"Shhh! Shhhh…", another voice said whilst holding the being's head, "Calm down… calm… down… -! Shhh – It's okay… you are alright!", the soft voice of a familiar person repeated over and over again, somewhat gaining the trust of the being.

Removing the needle from the patient's arm, Doctor Jonas shortly treated the spot. He had concerns, wondering if it really was a good idea to give her this hideous drug… but he had no other choice, "I hope this was the right thing to do…"

"Doc, she… she's coming back to her senses."

The halved view slowly focused, needing several moments before the flowing image aligned itself with her mind. Familiar people, one holding her head, others surrounding and watching. The stench of burnt material was in the air, but also the smell of plastics and other medical things. Though unable to really recognize her surroundings, her eye percepts that they are in a wide corridor, filled with a wide plethora of people. Most of the area is darkened. From medical assistants to patients, treating those in need. Every now and then, one would cover a patient's entire body with a plastic coat.

Claps, slight cheers and grief are heard among the surroundings. Her view did not allow much to see though as it was blocked by certain cases and containers acting as a blocking cover from curious stares.

"Commander… do you know who I am?"  
Hailynn did not answer at first. The doctor held a set of fingers up.  
"Three… Two…", she barely mumbled.

Her eye then followed the finger from right to left, once again reminded of the black border as the finger disappeared beyond the left. Hailynn torso and head was slowly lifted, letting her head rest on the lap of the familiar person behind.

"Alright, you understand me. Took nearly ten minutes until you regained mental consciousness after the injection. You have no idea how happy we are, gracious that the gods - or whatever – kept you alive... I wonder why we always meet up like this, having you only invited once devastated…"  
"astonishment"



Looking upon her body, Hailynn discovered that most of her torso is exposed. The medical units she had forgotten on her were still there, but there was a lot more upon her. A glimpse to the side revealed kits and equipments revealing her life signs but also another internal one that seemed to like an ultrasound echo and x-ray in one. Practically every bruise she had was either minor plastered or covered by thin medical films and transparent band-aids.

She was lying on the floor, having her messed up officer's jacket as a sorry excuse for a blanket. The scratches still burned, but not as much as before. Hailynn's left shoulder was almost as hard and swollen thick as a rock; the arm beyond that point being numb and rendered immobile with a tentative cast. Both were pulsing pain, but at least she felt them.  
Touching her forehead, she discovered bandages around, covering the left eye. Most surprising, though, was not only that her view was halved, but that she discovered that the right side of her torso had been operated and was now covered with special medical bandages as well. The doctor shortly removed the larger pad that was covering her right rib.

"I guess we made it. Glad to have you back, Hailynn."  
Hailynn again padded her left eye without answering.  
"Don't panic! It's still there. Your left eye is still there, Hailynn. No need to worry, just stay calm", Jonas reported to her, barely preventing her from fret, "Your augmented eye suffered a harsh hit, though. The surrounding region is swollen and I really suggest not touching it for a long while…"

A single memory suddenly flashed into her mind – with a solid elbow just about to strike her left eye.

"… The augmentation itself has suffered much from whatever blow it received, but to my surprise, it is only marginally damaged. I assume the mechanical part inside of is slightly out of focus. Right now, it is showing a specific color upon the iris – a color that seems to be a slight indication of some… damage code of some sort - I don't really know, honestly. Unfortunately, my team and I are unable to conduct any _repairs_, Commander. I myself lack the knowledge in optical cyber implantations and the required equipment needed to treat such injury… damage…"

Hailynn lowered her view. His words discouraged her as he spoke a bit further about her _damages_. As he spoke, she noticed that he spoke of her _damages_ as that of a broken robot. The spoils of these implants were revealing themselves for they do steal one's kushanity… slowly.

"I assume you noticed your left shoulder being immobile. It is swollen hard due to the impact of a round. If you hadn't had your radio unit on that side, we probably wouldn't be speaking with each other right now. Again, you were lucky, Hailynn. We've treated most of the injuries you have been running with ever since that day we left that taiidan mothership.  
But let's forget about that and talk about the most important thing: We've taken care of your most serious injuries, Hailynn. The internal ones."  
Again, she looked upon her exposed torso. Other medical associates shortly came by, removing some of the larger equipment from their area.

"I cannot recall how many fractures you had spread all over your ribcage, I dare not to even 

think about what a full tomography would reveal as we did not have a chance to bring you there. Severe tissue damages, perforations, clods… oh my…", Jonas rubbed and wiped his forehead, "Gods, it amazes me each time when I see what a kushan body can endure. My assistants and I have performed something insane to save the lives of yours and others, Hailynn. Aside to several hospices spread across the ship with hotspots, I assure you that we had stress like never before. When you were brought, we had no time or choice but to operate you here on-site. I will have much to report on my medical log once I get back to sickbay."  
Hailynn's bandaged right hand slid upon her skin again while the person above her moved her hair out of her view.

"The grade of the burn on your hand was a moderate one, but we were able to treat the injury and structure the skin – will take a while. Otherwise, I am glad to tell you that the operation was a success - shakes head stressful, but a success. We've distributed several types of nano-treatments to fix the organic damages. It is likely you will suffer slight sickness, maybe chances of pulse and not to forget, pain, but it will wear off – I cannot say how long the psyche will need but… anyways.  
The perforation of your lung was our greatest worry. Gods, Hailynn, why haven't you come any earlier to us? I'm not sure what else is happening on the ship, but we've had several power failures and the collapse of the ship's internal communication. We were dreaded tired, Hailynn. I haven't slept much myself really… and yet we managed to conduct this medical surgery – but let's see things on the bright side.  
Your physical status is 'stabilized' – but as your doctor, I demand you to refrain from any other means of combat and I will use my authority to have you attain rest! This is not an attack, okay, but you've been moving around for so many hours without sleep, food… and I was forced to inject 'cortisine' – the last resort to end the seizure and pain, as you somehow developed a serious immunity against nearly all means of tranquilization.  
I have _failed_ as a doctor at that moment I gave you the injection, but I had to do what the body was craving for. The crazy thing about all of this is that your body's craving also protected you, making your psyche ignore pain to some point where others would simply pass out, relentless decisions and act – from what I heard of. Probably saved the ship too. whew I don't know, I'm just a doctor… The rumor of your possible death struck the crew with great awe and fret, Hailynn."

The devastated woman gasped and coughed slightly. She wanted to say something but her throat was dry. Feeling hasted movements, the people who lend her head a lap gently gave her water from a packed ration. It took her some moments a few moments until she regained the possibility of speech.

"…H-h…ha…h…"  
"Slowly, one by one."

"H-how… did I… get… h-here?", Hailynn stuttered, "I-I was at a… Heat w-wave… I…"

The doctor looked upon the floor shortly, then looked back at her, "Let me explain as if I didn't have much to say. First off, I have to repeat how amazed I am under what extremely harsh conditions a body can survive. Nonetheless, not only were you at the edge of dehydration, you must have also been at the very edge of exhaustion. Your enriched blood must have supported your brain while it lastly forced you to fall into a comatose state. Yes, you nearly died there – but your body used its last possibilities to maintain your life.  


The hours of refraining from sleep and the drug fix protected you from dying there, Hailynn. I am not joking, no matter how ironic that may be. And there is nothing funny about it. Among all the hospices, those who heard of your endangered status even refrained from treatment – even those who actually needed most help… despite my medical selection, they forced me to concentrate on your survival, Commander.  
Granted… I wasn't sure if I were able to save their lives. Synthetic blood generation wasn't able to cover all needs – gladly that many operatives gave blood donations. However, you don't have the slightest clue how much they _love_ you, as a Commander, as a persona of guidance, Hailynn. Loyalty… Love, even the person who rescued you is still here."  
Hailynn dropped her head upon the person's lap again and looked upwards, soon to recognize the familiar face. Again, astonishment.  
"Surprised to see her, eh? No question, she was the one who pulled you out of the danger zone, before others supported her and carried your all the way here."

A short recall… Velle attempting a hasted jump but clumsily tripped over several obstacles just as charged rounds frequently slammed against her adjacency. Cases fell upon her – Another recall… her eyes revealing tears as the death of a friend occurred. Once hearing the spin of her Arsec's drum occurring, Velle went berserk, firing a stream of bullets wildly upon turanic intruders…

Her eye discovered the young weary-looking amaji woman in a strange unrecognizable suit above her.  
"But… how? The a-rea… was… of hostile… environ-"  
Velle wiped her tears of joy away, "I told you I would keep a lookout for you, Hailynn…sob"

"Support Operative, rescue and fire control unit – that's my department, ma'am… not guns… "  
"Backslash – 'Guardian Angel', Hailynn", Dr. Jonas noted.  
"You ran off that none of us were able to keep up with you. As the doctor said, you simply lost mind of the injuries. You just… ran off… after that vaygr – and we were cut off due to the splinter group of turanic-taiidan intruders", noticing Hailynn's eye staring upon her suit, Velle explained further, "I-I… I went on my own when I had the chance to go after you. I did not know where you went at first, until I followed the path of busted cases and bullet holes among the path. Noticing the rise of temperature, I deployed my gear that I took with me. I-I am not fond with damage control procedures, but I was trained in the behavior and characteristics in hostile environments, Commander.  
Within a short while, I fitted my resistance suit and entered the zone. Communication collapsed the moment I found you. I wasn't able to take you far, therefore were you too heavy – but I still pulled you as far as I could and tried to keep you alive. Not much later, others came to help out – by coincidence as they were worried about me too… yeah… and -"

Hailynn suddenly attempted to get up, but did not go beyond the point of lifting her torso, "The ship! V-Vaygrrr…", she wheezed frantically.

"No no no… Calm down… They're dead. The intruders, I mean – most of them, to be precise, but the crew is no longer endangered by them. Some of the refugees help us to outgun some 

of the turanics and taiidans – and you won't believe it, but some of intruders have surrendered and are now being held under custody at the brig.  
A few of our people nearly lost their mind and wanted to execute them… Hailynn, this happened some 15 hours ago – and I think the operative was another two or three on top of that. I am not sure what really happened to the ship itself – but rumors say we are stranded…"

"Ladies", Jonas announced suddenly, "You will have enough time to talk with each other – I need to move on and find out if there are any medical situations at hand. Though rest is important, you are also suffering malnutrition, Hailynn. Since you have been subjected of many fluid injections, I fear artificial nutrition infusions might interfere with the plentiful nanos you have swarming in your body right now.  
You haven't eaten anything beyond a day. You've been through stressful situations that nearly destructed your body. Commander, your blood sugar levels are dangerously low – and therefore I demand you and Operative Velle to…"

(Narrative voice)  
Deities, beliefs, scientific facts, the answer remains open – One's path may be guided by fate, where death would await one's arrival at the end… But what happens when another being intervenes with one's fate?  
(End of narrative speech)

Bridge

Chimes of the enigmatic echo periodically occurred despite the absent kadeshi girl. The mood of the bridge was quiet and down. Hardly anybody spoke. The crew however finally managed to gain rest. Though many of them were surely in need of psychological care, things remained calm.

Everybody longed for this peace. With the ship being crippled and still affected by the thermal attacks of before, it silently levitated in space. Soon, the silence broke as Kenta spoke up,

"Everybody…"

It took several hours until the observatory was able to give a small result of its deep space probing of the surrounding star formations and comparisons with stellar cartographies, but it seemed as if she found results, "Oh dear... Kerelly Constellation… Taanach Branch… Yutani Cluster… Serroga Yageni Formation… Oh my gods…", she shrieked slightly, "Commander Orelis, I need Quan here to verify this – but I can tell you this, sir: I think I have good news. If my estimates are correct, we are within amaji sovereign space! Simplified calculations reveal that we are… just… 46 Light Years away, plus-minus 1 in accuracy!"  
The bridge emerged into cheering joy for a certain while. Euphoria and again victory cheers were heard. Orelis approached Kenta's station as he repeated, "46?! Alright!"

"Yes, sir – 46 light years!"

They both repeated their words a few times and with each repeat, the joy soon faded away.  


"Forty… six… Kenta…"  
"Yes – Isn't that great, 46… Forty… Six! Just a few parsecs from home! Just…"  
"Light years away…", Orelis turned himself over to the screen that revealed stellar cartographies, then rubbed his slightly bearded chin.

Currently, the captain and several others of the main shift were not present, most likely all of them were recovering from the days of struggle during the venture through the M'randara Star System. He also took the time to take a nap right at the bridge. At least Pethera was gone

"46 light years away from home… That would be… ah, I hate math. We only got out with our lives tied on the back of this ship", he mumbled, just before his attention was called upon.  
Another communication operative transferred a communication request to Orelis' unit.  
It took several attempts until he was able to understand the person's report due to the collapse of all systems. But his mood suddenly rose again when he ended to commline"No way… Alright, thank you, I'll be right there veep Everybody – I think we have additional good news… and you won't believe it. Wait… no… nah, I've **gotta** see this first – Could also be that silly Deena trying to play a joke on us!"

"She wouldn't do a joke like that one, sir… I'm sure of it."  
"Hey, she pulled a few heavy ones when the ship launched the first time – Remember that one."

Orelis suddenly made huge steps towards the bridge's rear exits but stopped shortly. Who was supposed to take over bridge command during his absence?

"Umm, err… Operative Kelsea, you have the bridge for now, alright?"

"gulp W-Why me, sir?"

"Because I'm evil. No, really. All is quiet right now and you're the highest ranked operative here at the moment. I've got to check that news…"

Surprisingly, Fenna was awake. She bumped her upon the edge of the upper screens and knocked the controls of this with buttocks while lifting herself and turning upon the seat like a clumsy child, luckily all controls were on inactive, "Hey, what's the bump oooww!... oowww… What's the news you're talking about – Commander Orelis, sir?!"

All eyes looked upon Orelis. He really did not want to give false hopes but lastly spoke up, "Well… Alright, I'm not sure if the news is true - I can't believe it and none of you are going to believe it either but... Mess Hall…"

"Mess… Hall?", Fenna asked.  
Another man repeated his words, soon followed by other operatives and operators wondering what he meant.  
"Somebody is at Mess Hall, e-eating… It's Commander… and Krin'sa H-Hailynn Delixa… eating a meal there…"



After a long pause featuring puzzled faces, several young operatives jumped upwards, merely dropping what they were doing to kill time. All of them had eyes wide open, practically all of them _silently shouting_ 'WHAT YOU SAY?!'. Suddenly, several operatives stood up, some of them forgetfully moving off while pulling their headset plugs from the small plug sockets. Almost everybody, including Fenna, wanted to rush out of the bridge.

"Whoa WHOA HEY HEYHEYHEYHEAAAAAAAAAAHHHEEEEEY!", Orelis shouted at the avalanche of youngsters coming his way, "Stop people, not everybody now! We still need people here at the bridge! Hey, things could still happen – We could still be surprised by a hyperjump ambush, an attack – or maybe even -"

They still stared at him – unlikely that his order would change their mind either. The whole group begged to see their Krin'sa alive.

"Sigh Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a little. Alright, well Kelsea, you maintain bridge command. Don't do anything foolish and -"  
"Let's get going!", a surveillance operator announced at the group and started marching ahead with the group, Orelis being shoved by the wave of people. Within moments, the marching sound vanished as soon as the access doors slid closed.

Left behind, Kelsea quietly turns her head, quietly looking across the bridge's segments and stations. Nothing but screens and the slightly dimmed artificial lighting lit the bridge. Kelsea dropped her shoulders.

"_H-hellooooooooooooooooooooo_?", her soft voice called but was left without an answer, "sigh They all ran off…"  
Left all alone, the bridge again hummed the chime, shown also as a visible resonating wave upon the upper left display of her console. Lowering her view to the other screens, nothing really seemed interesting.  
Practically all segments revealed on the ship's mainframe were slowly blinking red and grey layers, each and every zone unable to interact with each other through the special sophisticated communication A.I. system and wave enhancers.

Again, another long sigh. Zann said before that the teams were already taking care of the problem. There were of course several substitute ways of communication, but there was no need of it since the ship was all right. Alas, she used both hands to rub her face, unaware that sets of transceiver microphones were all around her collar and units upon her shoulder.

A good idea appeared in her mind, as of finally taking all of these things off. As she did so, she wondered how she managed to survive doing all the administration between countless stations and people. Hearing the bridge once again hum the echoing chime, she shortly took a glimpse at the sensory station.

_Hmm…_



The sophisticated sensory station immediately went offline after the girl left. Of course, the ship still used its advanced array, but certainly did not match to what the kadeshi entity was capable of. Thinking back, Kelsea noticed that Aira's capabilities have advanced and promptly prospered as the ship ventured through the M'randara Star System. Even during the chase into the frozen comet surprised her.

Aira was even able to split her psyche to control the scout probe needed to guide the strikecraft wing and also maintain overwatch among the ship's adjacency and the development of incoming aggressors. Using the events to come to a conclusion, Kelsea wondered _what_ this girl was; Her appearance is an adolescent girl of a cult hundreds, if not thousands, of thousands of light years away, her psyche shattered and that of a frightened being, her abilities supernaturally beyond all kushan aspects, her past just as mystical and enigmatic as the present due to her affiliation with 'Kadesha's Ark' and its embedded legacy… and yet the girl was lost in a galaxy full of spoil and dangers. There was a lot more to her than what she knew to this point.

Kelsea suddenly stood up and stretched herself. Making another glimpse around, she was still all alone. The young communication operative slowly approached the helm with a bored look.  
_Hmm… Hmmmmmmmmm_

Corridor to the mess hall

A group of bridge operatives and an officer made their way to the mess hall. Everyone moved swiftly. While making their way, several of them noticed battle scars written everywhere upon the area. Bullet holes, damaged panels, separately covered corpses and people working and treating the wounded – They all revealed what great miseries that occurred while they were safely upon the bridge.

Orelis made a short glimpse at a charred panel. He had to chuckle inwardly, knowing that Chief Engineer Brogan would go crazy once he sees this.

Bypassing two operatives who held a conversation, Orelis eavesdropped as one spoke, "- Yeah. It was crazy, man. I'm telling you. I was with a few others and the cook – no idea what his name is – noticed two turanics coming our way at the mess hall. Most of us were too scared; we never really fired a gun in our lives. But anyways, the cook ambushed the two intruders just as they entered the place.

Disarming one of them, he immediately shot the first one by surprise, did some crazy fighting and then shot the second gunman out of the mess hall. Just like that – bam bam bam – No remorse, no regret."

"That sounds crazy – glad you all made it, though!"  
"Frell yeah. That body you see over there? That 's one of 'em."  
"Wait – I thought he was a cook, where did he -?"

"That was my thought too. All he answered was, 'I'm just a cook'…"  


"Hey you two", Orelis called behind whilst walking with the others, "You two know about Hailynn Delixa?"

"Err – Yes, sir. We know that she…"  
"If you guys want to see something _crazy_, I dare you to follow us to mess hall. Right now."  
"… huh?"

Mess Hall

At least hundreds of people stayed quiet. Hardly anybody moved or dared to say a word. One could say that there was a dead silence or a minute's silence – but every now and then, noise from a specific person would echo throughout the huge hall. Everybody quietly stared upon the woman who was covered by bruises, bandages, cast and her messed up stained officer jacket upon her shoulder. Scraping sounds again.

Unable to really eat right due to her hindered arm and drugged psyche, she frequently made a mess with trembling right hand. The meal seemed to be a good one, rice and some sauce… if she only had a tasting and smelling sense, which was unfortunately a side effect caused by her medication. Luckily, she no longer was bugged by the smell of her strange stench.

Velle quietly stared at her from the other side. It took a very long while to get her to the mess hall. Each step with the crutch was a painful one, testing her balancing each time. But just as the others, including Orelis and the bridge operatives could not believe their eyes. She was alive, brutally beaten up and… hungry and thirsty…

Gulp…. Gulp…. Guuuulp…. Gulp….

Several gulps followed until she knocked the empty cup upon the table, its sound echoing again throughout the mess hall. Everybody nervously observed the reputed to be dead woman. Hailynn breathed heavily a few times before calming down. Again that silent pause. Afterwards, Hailynn then fought with herself to get up – unfortunately falling upon the floor with a painful shriek. Before Velle or any other person helped out, the severely hindered hiigaran wove her hand showing them not to help her up; assured she could do it herself.

Suddenly, Kenta approached her with an open hand to whom she looked upwards to. Though wanting to deny the help, Hailynn knew she could stay on the floor like this all day long, but Kenta would stay there until she would accept. Approached by Velle, both amaji women helped the injured hiigaran to her feat.  
At this point, Hailynn now felt how much the crew counted on her… and how much they suffered. They all could not accept her death.

Tears suddenly ran down Kenta's cheek, who suddenly embraced her krin'sa with grief. Despite all of her injuries being oversensitive, Hailynn fought but failed to keep back her tears – Tears that were not of pain, but of joy and thankfulness. Having gone through so much agony, they all were thankful for her deeds, despite all of her flaws. A few of them thanked the gods, others the medics – but also for Velle, rumored to be the one who pulled her out of 

trouble.

One technician stood up, raising his hand in the gesture of the amaji pride; a formed fist rose high… soon to be followed by other symbolic gestures. Other bridge operatives and even technicians approached her, giving her one embrace after another while every else gave a prolonging applause for a long while. After the long applause, most of the operatives rowed themselves nearly perfectly, then bowed to her. All present crewmembers bowed to her persona as she quietly limped her way with Velle to the exit, accompanied by Commander Orelis.

The once seriously bored Kelsea now sat upon the seat that Fenna had resided upon for days, somewhat playing with the sophisticated controls like a little girl, talking while she amused herself – fairly replaying what she experienced in an exaggerated and _self-heroic_ manner.

Engineering Deck

Accompanied by Velle and Orelis, Hailynn exited the lift slowly. Orelis and Velle explained what happened during her absence.

"…So… We're stranded, huh?"  
"I believe so, Hailey. I'm not all too in touch with what actually happened though. Brogan and the engineers tossed one module after another off the ship – Nacelles and the hyperdrive's module that – I don't know, shattered coils and all that technical broken talk", Orelis reported to her, "Unlikely that we will be jumping anywhere. I'm sure this ship has some more tricks under her sleeves, but now how things stand, I really doubt we will be going anywhere. Kelsea said we're… just… 46 light years away from Amaj."

As Hailynn listened, she spotted a burnt circuit unit with melted cables. Brogan was not going to like this.

"46?! Hoo boy", Velle commented.  
"You bet. Anyways – Casualties are still being registered. Really hating my job today."

"- Orelis?"  
"Yeah, Hailynn?"  
"How… are you doing?"

He stopped shortly and hesitated. Likewise, he did not even expect such an answer. Three bypassing operators noticed Hailynn alive, all of them frequently looking back at her as if they saw a ghost.

Orelis chuckled quietly, "Heh… You keep surprising me, Hailey. Yeah… Yeah, besides the fact that we're stranded some forty-something light years away from home, death tolls still to come, tired as hell… Yeah, I'm fine, Hailey…"  
It was the first time Velle saw Hailynn smiling again. They continued their slow pace.

"What about Kaydee?"  


"That silly woman… Not sure really. She was brought to sickbay due to loss of consciousness after that trouble with Ray who refused to board at first. Later on, when we were boarded by the vaygr and the other gunmen and while I coordinated the security teams, I heard of her taking on a turanic who was at the cargo bay II.  
Don't ask me what happened. I just know that she went for Ray to get him out of his ship – I only heard that she shot the turanic down, then again was to the nearest safe zone due to her loss of consciousness again. Man… I never want to get in the way of a crazed manaani with a shotgun."  
"Thank goodness… she is still alive... I hope the wounded will survive. Please inform them that I am _alright_ and that I hope for them to survive."

"Roger that. Heh – Think it takes more to kill a manaani. Good thing she's on our side. Anyways, Commander, Chief Brogan surely can tell you more about the ship's status… but under us two – err, three – You better avoid Brogan, ladies. He's probably mad as frell. I was going to avoid actually mentioning the suggestion of heading there at first."

"Now that you mention it, sir, why are we heading there?", the young operative curiously asked with large eyes.  
"Somebody is hiding there in a little _den_ from what I heard of."

"Hiding? Who?"

Orelis looked at first at Velle, then at Hailynn, "The _emissary_…"

The entire story and development of 'Kadesha's Ark' incident recalled itself within a single heartbeat.

"You mean… the _girl_ – Aira? But… What is she doing there – Why is she hiding?  
"She hasn't heard of the _good news_, Velle."  
"What?"

Again, Orelis' view went over to the injured hiigaran.  
"…", Hailynn did not answer but stared back at him with a questioning glare. 

As Orelis spoke, recalling reminiscences plagued Hailynn's soul. Tense gunfights. Close combat. Viciously repelling the attacks of the vaygr, Hailynn struggled for her life. The unarmed vaygr intruder would suddenly surprise her with a strangling arm that would wrap her neck like an entangling snake. The vaygr knew of all the weaknesses the kushan body had… far too many… Fbut Hailynn was entrusted with experience and knowledge. Barely able, she responded to each attempt that nearly brought her at the edge of dying instantly.

One attempt would lift the hiigaran woman and have her spine be breached by a so-called backbreaker by forcefully dropping the woman upon his reinforced knee – but Hailynn reacted with sharp instincts, turning herself with her stomach downwards. The fall upon the knee was a more than painful one and she did spat a bit _more_ more than just saliva. The pain only existed shortly due to her rage increasing.

The vaygr would attempt to viciously twist her head, but she would react by turning her body accordingly; but while the vaygr attempted further deathstrikes while she 

intervened, Hailynn would be running out of time for his clutch was blocking a vital part of her neck. The hostile environment did not make matters better – but ironically, at the moment she would pass out, the stinging air would awake her just one more to attempt her last resort. Remembering the lightweight sidearm hidden among her torso, she immediately pulled it out and wildly shot towards her back. Rounds entered the vaygr's body, who then would shortly tumble backwards.

Hailynn unfortunately shot the gun empty with only a scarce few landing hits… but it all led to the fact that the vaygr was bleeding to heavily. Bashing ahead, the vaygr immediately struck a crushing blow upon her chest, knocking her against the duct's wall… The agonizing pain suddenly unleashed her innermost demon… She spoke words...sudden darkness

"- was not a great thing. Hailynn, several of us saw you dying… struggling but lastly giving up… the farewell. I'm not the emotional guy… but that did hit me, Hailey. It hit all of us – Gods, I won't believe what I am about to say, but even… Pethera… She seemed… Nevermind that woman - but you don't have the slightest clue what happened when Aira witnessed your _death_. The sort of screamed and then BOOM – The ship just went haywire! Almost everything collapsed. "

"Wait… That was HER…?!", Velle's eyes widened, remembering how much trouble she had trying to get help after the collapse of the ship's internal communication.  
"Something big just happened. The poor girl already went through so much – Hailynn's death was definitely the last straw…"

Wanting to hurry, Hailynn began to speed up in her limping pace slightly.

"Whoa whoa, slow down, Commander!", Velle demanded , "Let me help you out."

"Alright you two – I better get back to the bridge. Kelsea is there, probably alone and I'm sure she could need the company before I finally go off duty. Plus, I don't want to put up with Brogan's whining."  
"Yes, sir…"

"Thanks for… everything, Orelis."

"Anytime, Hailynn, anytime."  
Orelis departed from the two with a salute and made his way back to the lift.



Part 3 of 3

**- More than a companion cube… -**

Blurry flashbacks…  
Beams of charged projectiles and shells frequently impacted upon hard surfaces. The once insignificant large storage became a crucial point of retreat as it was the nearest intersection for the hunted unarmed vaygr-hiigaran refugees to escape their followers. The logistics deck had nearly every corner full of sealed crates, containers and several other unusual things.  
_Blotched colors fills the view for the moment_.

Considering the enemy, the vaygr intruder was a tall infiltrator whose weaponry and armor revealed much to fear of. This hideous killer was a serious threat not to be underestimated. Having an armor that gave full flexibility to the dexterously strong vaygr body was much of a concern Hailynn needed to be aware of. Unfortunately, matters became worse as the amaji defenders confronted and confirmed the presence of turanic gunmen as well. Surprisingly, they did not reveal any similarities to the turanic soldier who assaulted her days ago upon the derelict mothership – other than the ridged forehead most likely hidden beneath their helmets.

Definitely turanics, but there were certain differences Hailynn could not distinguish. It was likewise that the surviving taiidan faction on the side of the vaygr still would have of disciplined uniforms and looks – but these two were looking so individual that they were beyond the point of discipline.

Hailynn had already confronted such in her past as a marine… Those she confronted were crazed mercenaries and scavengers. But still, something disturbed her about the _looks_ of these turanics – She simply had no time to distinguish it.

As expected, the standard rounds of the weapons the amaji had to their disposal barely did anything but bounce off or simply deform upon the vaygr's armor. The armory did not offer much of a variety. She was the more or less only one around who actually had the skills at using explosive and heavy weaponry, other than the hundreds of amajis who only knew the basics and never stood eye-in-eve against a vaygr.

Neither could she quick-train nor entrust such dangerous armaments to them – it was simply too dangerous – not to mention how scary it was to see Deena firing her shotgun with a very lousy aim. Every time she pulled the trigger, she would close her eyes.

All hell and a crisis then broke loose.

While desperately trying to keep her nerves sharp, Hailynn helplessly watched panicking armed operatives spreading out and trying to make their way into safety – unfortunately falling right into the deadly aim of the first confronted vaygr intruder 

and the two turanic supporters. She shouted and cursed at the operatives, begging them to stay down for the sake of their lives.

The amaji group was fortunately able to extract the last refugees from the danger zone, but the defending group itself was now pinned down. Being several steps away from them, she braced herself as repeater rounds frequently hailed upon her cover. More loose things fell from above to her sides.

Being out of breath, extremely nervous and anxious, Hailynn's hands trembled as she desperately reloaded her handgun with the explosive rounds of ammunition that were powerful enough to cause damage upon the armored enemies. The handgun however was still smoking and already radiated heat, stinging her sweaty grip with each second she held it.

Despite the compatibility and its special frame, it was still prone to overheating when using such gel-gas ammunition excessively – but as usual, she did not have much of a choice.

Unable to save the life of a dying operative, Velle suddenly became hysterical, raising her body relentlessly above cover and began to return fire wildly. Her sudden havoc was so tense and surprising that she actually lost control of herself and her blaring Arsec machine gun.

At first screaming at her to get back under cover, Hailynn dared to make a look beyond the corner.

Ricocheting projectiles merely raining sparks everywhere, even shooting out lighting segments of the ceiling and other harmless falling under the aim of the operative. Ironically, Velle's bizarre outrage surprised the opposing force. Unlike the vaygr who took the hits without suffering any real damage or injuries, one of the turanics unfortunately reacted by instinct, attempting to dodge for a different cover, but suffered several hits upon himself while the other one barely managed to lower himself.

Rounds continuously hailed everywhere upon them. The vaygr was forced back and although he was not able to return fire, he withstood each shocking hit – only waiting for the moment to recover from the frequent blows.

The unlucky turanic, however, was not as well armored. Each hit landed upon him smacked cloudlets of blood, unknown fragments and fluids and screams before dismemberments occurred. Hailynn nervously looked at Velle and froze for a split second.

The wild operative unintentionally managed to give cover for her comrades to retreat to a better spot, but instead of moving back herself, Hailynn's eyes immediately discovered Velle's fears taking over her. The wild gunfire became even wilder; she wanted to make a step to the back but she could not stop firing at them across the large 

storage room. One empty shell ejected from her wild aim so far, that it even smacked upon the side of Hailynn's left eye. Within a bleak second, rapid clicks and a depleted spinning drum frequently occurred from the weapon that no longer spewed projectiles.

The inexperienced operative was now paralyzed by her fears!

Hailynn held her breath, surely expecting an outburst of pain soon to happen.

Just as the vaygr and the remaining turanic recovered from the rage attacks, Hailynn made an sudden lunge from her cover, blasting three blind snapshots upon their aggressors with her handgun before bashing into Velle; forcefully knocking her down before the enemies took advantage of the stunned woman. Whilst firing and fighting against the intensive recoil, Hailynn surprisingly witnessed her last blind shot busting a terrifying hole upon the turanic, just before falling upon Velle with a painful landing and losing sight.

Locking Velle down upon the floor, Hailynn suddenly yelled, "**Snap out of it – and stay down**!", and gave her a smack, surely waking the operative up from her lost mind. Still pinned upon the floor, Velle looked up as she saw Hailynn ducking further down and providing her some cover as rounds of enemy fire once again everywhere.

With the armored vaygr being the last opponent, Hailynn desperately needed to think; her pack of small shells versus an enemy whose weapon hurled vicious micro projectiles at a terrifying rate and force – The noise made it tough for her to form thoughts. Every now and then, the vaygr would launch a bolt of extreme destruction… As of just now, the side of the container they hid behind busted, spraying parts of it everywhere. Velle and the others further behind yelled at despair. Luckily, none of the two women were injured - other than minor scratches.

_Confusing images fills her view. For short while, the surrounding changes into a miserably colorful reflection of the taiidan mothership._

Hailynn's knowledge foresaw it all again. The vaygr repeater was a remarkable but also terrifying coupling between two technologies, specifically of bolter and repeater weaponry. The handheld weapon of the vaygr was alike the Arsec Mark II in certain aspects making it hard to classify it; it was larger than a handy sub machine gun, shorter than the commonly long-sized rifle and having a, in this case, very large capacity of micro caliber projectiles.

Unlike such Arsec 'Mark II' _assault rifle_, this vaygr weapon classified as 'Stormur Herra' was a hybrid that could wreck havoc upon any organic being and devastate objects beyond the power of a mediocre bolter shotgun amaji services had within its arsenal – merely excluding it totally from the term of a simple assault weapon.

Its micro-sized projectiles may be small as harmless pellets, but once combined with the hybrid rail technology similar to the common one of the turanics, such projectile would gain serious powers – and that without a loud bang.  


At this tense moment, Hailynn's mind snapped a thought. Her experience told her that such vaygr intruder would rather follow his objective first than trying to add more kills on his score. Vaygr were usually cunning loners, but he probably noticed that his accompanying allies proven themselves worthy and useful.

_The objective… the objective… what was his objective_?!, a thought that frequently repeated itself in her mind – and each time she nearly had the answer, another load of projectiles would shatter pieces of the sealed container upon the side of her face... to her annoyance.

_…Sabotage! Of course! Bomb plantations…_

The vaygr still carried several of these small but seriously devastating units mounted upon the back of his armored suit… and she was sure that he was waiting for some sort of intelligence transmission from the second vaygr intruder. Hailynn became more anxious.

_Hailynn sensed Velle frightfully staring from below upon the wrecked hiigaran who still had her thighs upon the sides of her hip – recognizing that face again, predicting Hailynn's psyche having something in mind._

Suddenly, Hailynn griped the unit from her shoulder, changed its settings to a much insecure frequency and shouted loudly enough, "Bridge! Come in bridge command!"

Immediately responding, an operator of the surveillance station replied, ""Responding, Commander! Do you wish to speak with Orelis, ma'am?!""

"No – no! Listen! No time for any explanations - I need you to open the _path to ship's main power core section at this deck _- deck seven - from my position! Open the way to corridor! We need to get these people out of the sector – let the vaygr to core!"

Hearing the familiar voice of Orelis in the background, both Hailynn and Velle listened to the speech, ""Over an open line?! Whatever! Let me speak to her Delixa – What's the -?!""  
"No time for explanations! Open **D8-S-98-Delta**, passage 12 – to the _Main Power Core_… reactor… three! Open that access door!", Hailynn desperately shouted again and beyond the edge, making sure she was referring to the correct entry point that was currently locked down, "… and stand by… please _standby_…"

_A long pause… By now, it was clear that Orelis and the operator were having an argument on her confusing request. Most likely, it was Orelis who was probably screaming like crazy. A short look down to Velle showed that she was astonished. They both knew this ship pretty well enough to know that the –_

""Err – alright, Commander"", the voice of the operator replied while being shouted 

at,"" Doing as ordered! I'm on it – I'm on it!""

Hailynn view glimpsed beyond the edge of the protecting container for a single moment before shifting back behind the edge; her face shortly revealed slight concerns.

"Comman- Hailynn, what is this all about?!", Velle shouted from below with a much confused voice, "Th-That path is not… - Why are you letting him go?!"  
"We need to let him get out of here so we can save our people, Velle! His mission is not slaughtering us – yet!"

"But that way is also not leading to a -!"

Hailynn shortly looked down, "Those punks... nearly screwed us back on that derelict mothership – but this time… they are on **our** turf!"

Velle did not understand what the commander meant. At the same moment, another bolt powerfully smashed the upper half of the sealed container; this time spraying many pieces and its content than before.

Scared by the sudden event, Hailynn's hands slipped to the outside but also caused her to instinctively throw herself upon the operative below her… and albeit the tense and frightening situation, it became a _embarrassing confrontation_ for the moment as their lips and bodies accidently and unintentionally met – but also to the painful experience of Hailynn.

Both body and lips stayed together for another moment while more pieces of shattered hard plastics and seeds fell upon them.

Others stared in astonishment – including Deena who seemed in looking forward to sharing the gossip...  
_Blurry colors suddenly tainted Hailynn's reminiscences._

"Hailynn… Hailynn?"  
"Uhhhh…. huh-huh huh-huh-huh…"

"H-Hailynn? Hey?", her eye then focused on the person who caught her view by moving in front of her, "Hey, can you hear me – are you okay?"

The person stared straight into the empty eye of the injured commander, who stood there with a worried face.

"Wha… what?"

Hailynn stared back to the support operative who… who… her memory paused for a moment. The young woman in front of her was half a head smaller, wore a strange slick but protective 

suit usually worn by damage control and fire teams as the first level of protection while carrying a special backpack with a familiar weapon on its side.

The woman's hair was pretty much as messed up as Hailynn's, shimmering faint dark velvet tones as the strongly dimmed lighting reflected upon her hair. Hailynn's senses returned, finally recognizing Velle – An amaji with a common gene 'defect' that caused the unusual hair color. Considering former breeding classifications, it was clear that such amaji's genes were prone to further defects, thus leading to low-grade values of the breeding selection.

Thinking beyond, Hailynn recalled what she learned about when she studied some of Amaj's history a few years ago. With all amajis being 'indirect' descendants of other major kiithid, it was clear that the natural cosmic radiation of the galactic core and of course the people who lived in the existing core systems received minor gene defects that passed on throughout colonial and repopulation purposes.

Of course, non-excessive mutations happened – only changes deep within DNA-strands. Everybody was affected by that, Hailynn surely as well but with nothing worthwhile to mention. Nonetheless, for some reason, the amaji descendants were more prone to visible changes such as Velle's unusual hair color.

The operative in the protective suit dropped her shoulders, "What 'what'? Hailynn… what's wrong?"  
"What? Stop shaking me – and stop asking 'what?'."

"C-Can't you remember…?"  
"What?!"

"You were just about to tell me about what happened during that confrontation with that other… vaygr… then you saw the arrested turanic… you started talking about colors and other nonsense – then you just spaced out for some fifteen seconds."  
"Eh… Where are… we?"

While shaken gently, Hailynn's eye wandered around as Velle repeated her name. A corridor, with yellow symbols and stripes… Engineering deck. The corridor itself showed signs of chaos that took place a long while ago.  
Her mind recognized the area, but it was its emptiness that left her both speech and thoughtless. The area hummed and vibrated quietly as faint trembles periodically phased through. The wide corridor was empty, most likely that the majority of operatives were elsewhere supporting where they could. A slight breeze blew through, probably caused by alternating environment control systems – but also blew some of the weird stench away from her nose. Hailynn readjusted her messed-up uniform jacket upon her shoulders, allowing it to cover her bandaged arms more.

"Engineering…", Hailynn recognized, then shortly laid her hand upon the bandaged eye that pulsated pain. Another second later, she began to scratch herself due to an irritating itch.  
"Yes, uhm, you intended to look for the sensory… girl… Aira. Commander Orelis mentioned her hiding somewhere around the main engineering."



"Yes, of course. Let's go there", Hailynn replied and suddenly limped ahead awkwardly.

"Wait", Velle said, "You're going the wrong way, ma'am…"

"We're already here, this huge door... Technicians are taking care of the access protocols due to some minor malfunctioning. I don't know really what they were talking about but they told us to wait right here. They also said that one turanic made his way here to the rear sector of the engineering deck but suddenly surrendered for some reason. A marine and an armed operative took that guy to the brig only moments ago – Have already you forgotten about that?", the young amaji woman spoke as she knocked a knuckle against the wall of the hulking access door.

Hailynn shortly observed the huge access vault. Black and yellow stripes, panels and other iconic things… Again, her psyche phased out, running separate memories of past events in a split second. Noticing signs of disorientation and imbalance, Velle immediately caught the wrecked and _mummified_ hiigaran woman. Looking each other into the eyes, Velle revealed a much worried face than before – if not, than ever.

"mmhf Th-Thanks", Hailynn quietly said to her, then revealed a firm face, "I still must… thank you. You saved -"  
Strangely enough, Velle's arms continuously held the weak commander around the upper torso, firmly enough to prevent her from falling, tenderly with care not to hurt her – as if she had sought for such closeness for an eternity. Sobs were heard from Hailynn's shoulder.

Time slowly flew by.

Velle ignored the weird smells as she maintained her embrace.  
After a moment of silence, the noise of activating systems shortly awoke the two. Making a short glimpse, both discovered that the access panels became active again before looking back at each other.

The amaji woman fought against her tears, "It-It's alright, Hailynn. You do not need to thank me. I am here to serve the Amaj – Saving lives is my goal… I am a support operative who only wishes to help whenever possible – To serve and be with _those I love, those I am fond of_ gasp - I mean - !"

The clumsy operative threw both hands in front of her mouth… but it was already too late; her words already slipped from her lips. It took a long while until Hailynn's right arm first dropped the crutch and then slowly embraced the amaji who fell for her emotions.  
She had to understand that the crew suffered great hardships. Hailynn looked down to her and smiled slightly, assured that it was just worries and concerns – but Velle still stared back with wide-opened and shocked eyes. The hiigaran thought further, counting what this crew survived… from nearly being killed by ion beams, massive trinity bolts, comets, black hole strains, soldiers, hypoxia, ethereal surges of hyperspace…

_Oh…. __**Oooohhhh**__….._, Hailynn's mind suddenly snapped, abruptly ending her enumeration of 

encounters that nearly ended deadly. Velle's emotions seemed to have a _much deeper_ meaning.

"S-s-sorry – Commander Delixa, ma'am", the young amaji suddenly stuttered and hesitantly removed her arms from the slightly taller woman; "I… I…", Velle's eyes bounced from each corner to another as her arms slipped away from the silent hiigaran, trying to avoid eye contact with the taller officer who quietly stared at her.

Hailynn at first thought the amaji's emotions were caused by worries – but they were not only worries; they were sorrows from a being that deeply _adored_ her. A weird confrontation this was – Hours to days ago, Hailynn fought for their lives and the survival of the ship – and now she stood before a person who confessed love and admiration, unexpectedly.

"I've been praying before and ever since the doctors began surgery on you… I brought you to the safe zone, Hailynn", the operative quietly explained with a blushed face showing tears, "You were severely injured. You even 'flatlined' during a crucial moment…"

_Velle remembered the moment she found the lifeless body laying on the floor. The entire room merely vibrated as the air revealed intensive heat values – Her protective suit and helmet being the thinnest line of defense against this violent environment. But alike Hailynn, Velle also had troubles recall the whole event._

"How were you able to get me out of there?", the hiigaran suddenly questioned the nimbly-built amaji woman.  
"I pulled you… You are a heavy person but… I don't know, I just pulled you – I can't really recall everything that happened back then."

_The stress, the heat, the terror… It must have been the extreme adrenaline rush that suddenly took control of her. At this point, Hailynn knew that one's body could innervate hidden powers in stressful situations – but there seemed to be more about it in connection with those of amaji heritage.  
Rumors once spoke of __**very**__ unusual events that occurred during a well known catastrophe that happened upon the colony ship orbiting Amaj Prime._

"Just to make this clear: I owe you. I am a person of many debts, a person who still has promises sworn to be fulfilled. You gave me a second chance…"  
"Told you I'd keep an eye on you, ma'am. I-I'm sorry I wasn't able to shoot the turanic as you demanded back then upon the mothership… I am not a marine -"

"- but you are valuable to me as the entire Kiith Amaj, Velle -"  
"- Just as you are for me, my Commander… Delixa…", she quietly replied back to Hailynn but kept her view upon the floor.

Obviously, Velle's formal response was sign for her embarrassment wanting to hide.

Certain things became clear to Hailynn. Back then upon the derelict mothership, Velle must 

have been one of the first to volunteer for the search and rescue division that travelled across the hazardous interiors of the vessel to save both Hailynn and Aira. Despite being ordered to keep an eye on Hailynn, her intentions had a much deeper sense.

Unfortunate for Velle, Hailynn did not mention any word considering her confession. The situation was already a _delicate_ one.

"Just for the record, I will make sure you will get the appropriate _response_ for your heroic efforts by the Kiith Amaji Navy… pauseA real second chance… maybe it was the third one… I don't know - I never thought I'd be given another one, Velle. I was ready to die; ready to leave my _life_ behind."

The amaji operative lowered her view again and blushed slightly. Nevertheless, Velle's view seemed to be unsatisfied as she braced herself slightly. The suit, whilst being a passive protection against harsh environments, hardly gave her warmth for her shattered heart.

"Velle. pause Look – I will have to go on alone from here. Aira is a very shy one – You know that. I will need to meet her alone as I do not know how she will react. Hence, I wish you go off-duty and take a rest – If the staff officer calls you for duty, tell him to go to frell with a greeting from me."

Velle nodded, "So… you wish to carry on alone… Will you be… alright?"

"I should make it. Don't worry."  
The amaji made a long hesitant pause again before replying, "V-Very well, m-ma'am. Just be careful with yourself. According to Dr. Jonas, he and his medical team only stabilized you despite the long… surgery. You are merely patched up. As the medic long time ago said, you are in desperate need of an in-depth surgery or the results might end… le-leth…lethal…", while making small nervous steps away from Hailynn after picking up and handing her the crutch, "I-I better get going… I should be able… to help out other operatives and…"

_It was clear that Velle lied. She was burnt-out and tired just like the rest of the crew._

"Velle."

The amaji woman silenced but astonished inwardly as she turned around. Without saying any other word, the devastated hiigaran stood with an arm raised from her said, inviting her for another hug. Approaching her once more, both hugged each other one more time.  
"_I'm sorry_, Velle…"  
Velle did not answer.

"I fear I cannot _reflect_ your admiration… but…"  
The younger woman raised her head.



"I still enjoy your closeness, your company. I am not speaking as a commanding officer. I am speaking to you as somebody who wishes to see you as a close friend…"  
"Hailynn… I understand if my _notions_ may have been inappropriate. I did not intend to bring you such… embarrassment at a time like this."

"Velle -"  
"No listen… My life was not an easy one. None of the amajis really had an easy life- or a **real** life… I for my side never had anybody. Never had I met a man that awoke such feelings as what I have for you, Hailynn… but I must apologize to you. I don't want to force what does not exist. I can't really explain 'why'… It must be one of my gene defects – probably the reason why people don't like me… I-I didn't wish to disgust you with my notion…"

"No", Hailynn suddenly replied with a slightly harsh undertone, "No, Velle. Don't say that. People may have interests, notions or whatever – but never shall we to let prejudice lead our minds. Never. I proudly stand behind what all true amajis strive for… eternal freedom, brotherliness… pride. You are an amaji, a being I pledge to protect by the will of kiith. You should never be ashamed of **anything**."

Another tear ran down Velle's cheek.

"Thus, I am looking forward to that moment we could speak with each other under four… _three_ eyes. Just you and I, whenever you feel like – whatever you like to talk about. I'm pretty sure I will need somebody to talk to – that's for sure. Will you be there?... I will", the hiigaran lastly asked and smiled slightly.

Velle nodded one more time quietly.

"Velle. Your _notion_ is natural. You are not a _augmented abomination_ as I am. You are a being with a blessed virtue - love- that all amajis have and wish to share; something all _warriors_ could need in this dangerous galaxy. I may not reflect your love, but I assure you, Velle, I still enjoy being close to you – surely more than a simple caring companion cube."

Velle's hand shortly touched Hailynn's cheek. Unknowingly, at the same moment the massive vault began to open, both women suddenly recalled memories of the past simultaneously.

Both lips softly connected together at that specific moment more container shreds were displaced.  
_Velle never expected to be blessed of such moment; the sudden connection filled her inner joy. Amidst this frightening gunfight she found a moment she somewhat strived for, albeit it being a coincidence that would end any time too soon. Stunned by vibrancy, Fenna trembled as she felt the closeness of Hailynn's body._

Hailynn suddenly raised her head and looked up and away from Velle's face as she kept lying low upon her.

_She felt both of their hearts pounding, hers of great fear and pleasure at the same time - However, Hailynn revealed even more anxiousness... As if she were just hoping and craving for something specific to happen. She was ready for that 'something'…_  


The access to the desired path opened. Hearing thick and heavy steps, Hailynn's experienced perception detected the vaygr infiltration making his way for the opening path. The burst firing began to stutter, resembling the vaygr making a hasted movement for that specific path. Hailynn suddenly grinned with a vicious gaze and whispered, "_**Gotcha**__…_"

What did she mean with that?

"**BRIDGE - FORFEIT MY LAST COMMAND AND LOCK DOWN THE OUTGOING ACCESS OF THAT CORRIDOR! HURRY!**", Hailynn suddenly screamed into her comm-unit as she anxiously stood up from Velle, crushing, slipping upon countless seeds but catching her balance as she darted ahead – Once again ignoring her injuries. She needed to act promptly and take advantage of this moment!

Those operatives who still had some bravery wanted to follow, but Hailynn wove her hand at them to stay back. To this point, she needed to take on the enemy alone – hoping the surveillance operative would conduct her demand on time.

Velle suddenly felt the urge to follow, followed by two other operatives who decided to break out of cover after all – but nonetheless, Hailynn was too far ahead by now. Hailynn limped but it was remarkable how fast she was. She simply could not let this _opportunity_ fail.

The armored vaygr infiltrator dashed down the short corridor, aiming his deadly repeater ahead as he made his way. Having no defenseless victims on the way, he focused on his destination – soon to discover strange conflicting circumstances. The area further on showed neither any real indications of being a vital part of the ship nor did his sophisticated short range visor reveal high energy readings resonating ahead of his approach; a dead-end that led to another useless storage room. But as he approached that specific area at blinding speed and being almost at the end of the hallway, the vaygr suddenly stopped as the access door ahead sealed itself.

Vaygr were never easy to be confused, but this time, this vaygr showed slight astonishment as the path was suddenly blocked. Though he knew these weak bloods would try anything to stop him, he did not understand why this area was not leading to the reactor unit despite the units and implants intercepting the hiigarans' communication… unless…

Sensing imminent danger from behind, the vaygr infiltrator spun around attempting to align his repeater at once – but just as his aim nearly aligned to the target and began unleashing a barrage of deadly projectiles, an **explosive force** burst asunder upon his right shoulder causing the side of his body to be forcefully knocked away! Another two blasts would disperse its powerful force upon his left leg and his side. The tense spasm caused by the hits immediately rendered him immobile despite the armor that now has been deformed. Recovering immediately from the devastating blows was merely impossible, lastly forcing him to fall with his back against the sealed access door.



Catching his mind, his view now focused on the puny being that ambushed him – The same leading hiigaran that commanded the groups of lesser individuals moments ago. Holes of his repeater rounds circled the frame of the door around her, only missing her by several centimeters.

The hiigaran was a seemingly injured female who was out of breath, leaning her body against the edge of the ingoing access doorway, holding a smoking medium caliber handgun with a shaky aim. At this moment, it became clear to the vaygr infiltrator that he was _fooled_ and outsmarted by this 'undersized' woman.

_Hailynn frequently panted. The short sprint and the desperate aiming disrupted by her anxiousness already sapped her most of her endurance – but that all did not matter. Her plan worked out. The vaygr indeed did intercept the transmission that deliberately dispatched by her, luring him into an area that was nothing more than another irrelevant storage compartment._

The defeated vaygr shortly looked upon his side; the repeater was unfortunately too far away – no chance in getting it, for this hiigaran proved herself as a skilled markswoman... He underestimated her. Both sworn enemies stared upon each other with great hatred. Noticeable damages of his helmet also revealed his face partially.

_A vaygr saying went through her mind; a saying she had heard of several times throughout her past. 'Vaygr warriors never surrender' – Hailynn's kushanity somewhat conflicted with her enraged psyche. Having the amajis around her, her kushane side frightened to execute the vaygr. Though not all of them would witness his death, her cold blood would once again prevail… and with each death she caused, a piece of her kushanity would crumble… but she had no choice: The vaygr would only dare to continue his onslaught._

"You… may… have… succeeded… but… Lord Makaan's envoy… will… bring… death… to… your… kiith!", the voice of the seriously vaygr slowly cursed while flawed by blood gargling; swearing the kiith to be hunted until extinction, "My… death… will… curse… your kiith. The Vaygr… will **crusade** - Heed... my…words… Hii..garan! Blood… by… blood…"

She pinched her eyes.

"_Join the kiith…_", Hailynn's lips pronounced.

The muzzle flash immediately hurled the explosive round ahead as the recoil forcefully knocked both the slide and Hailynn's wrist upwards…

"Friends call me Hailey. Please do so in the future. Okay?"  
Velle nodded and silently slipped her hands away, then she wove 'goodbye'. Despite the reject of her love interest, she still felt hope inwardly – at least to be close to the strong-willed 

being.

Bridge

_The loud voice of an amaji operative is heard as chimes periodically occur in the background._

"We need support, Vjel-Amaj! Course 2-point-3-7 on Alpha arc, 12 degrees Hang in there, Acolyte! We're coming for you – just hold on!", Kelsea's voice alternated as she spoke in a desperate manner with herself and then adjusted her hands on the sophisticated controls, pushing most of them accordingly to a random position, "Just hang in there, Acolyte! Coming in to your aid at your 7 o'clock high!"

Her imagination played her scenarios all this time through; each time simulating a much **desperate** situation and need for a 'decisively intelligent' change of course in the awe of life or death, usually resulting in some wild choice of ideas and guesses how a real helmsman would do it and pushing random controls and pedals to separate arcs, positions and depths.

Kelsea's imagination even simulated the force of inertia fields lagging; pushing herself into the seat as the imagined change of course took place.

But just as she spoke again, the familiar voice of Lieutenant Commander Orelis sounded from behind, "Umm… What are you doing?"

Scared by the sudden appearance, Kelsea froze. Unfortunately, she thought she would be able to hear when people would be coming in - either that or she was way too distracted. She stuttered several times in deep embarrassment.

He had to smile for a moment, "Don't worry, we're alone, Kelsea."  
Another periodic chime flew by.  
"So. You like the helm or are you just bored?"

After a long pause, the communication operative nodded.

Kelsea's hands slid over the controls as she replied, "Yeah… Yes. Well, I was bored, to be honest. I just sat down and wanted to 'feel' how it was – How it was to fly a ship. I know it sounds strange, sorry sir. I never insisted to do so since it had a lot more responsibilities to be aware of. It did scare me at first how much things you need to know about it – but… now, I've grown some interest and just wanted to know how it 'sort of feels like'. I guess I got a _bit_ carried away with it."

"A bit chuckles? Well, everybody has their way to take a break from work when nobody is around. You look like you insist to do something. Since Hailynn won't be able to fly the ship all the time and Fenna being the only active pilot around – are you really considering testing that job?"



"Hey, it may sound crazy. I might not be able to do it even nearly as well as Commander Delixa – but at least I wouldn't be whining, screaming and shouting around about… about EVERYTHING like Fenna, Orelis!", Kelsea answered and began to slag Fenna off for her outbreaks during the entire journey through the M'randara expanse.

He crossed his arms, "Good countering point ", he smirked.  
"There is something I like about it – a-anyways. I better get back to my station and -"

Orelis' hand landed upon her shoulder, pushing gently her back upon it, "Take it easy, Kelsea. I'm actually not here. You can handle it alone here for a bit longer, or not?"

"Huh? Well, yes, I'm still full of energy, sir. The pills are keeping me awake but they'll fail any moment soon."  
"All right. You're still boss of the bridge. I just wanted to drop by before hitting my bunk just to make sure everything is quiet. It is likely we won't be getting any visits for now And I double-dare our luck of a battlecruiser popping up right next to us again. A group of technical support operatives will come by some time around, allowing you to head off-duty. Maybe other operatives will show up, too. Nonetheless, I think we should see if we can do something about that desire of yours if should get back home in the future, don't you think?"  
"… but…"

Orelis already made on his way to the rear exit, "Casualty reports will be coming in later on - and some damn interrogation on those arrested intruders, two things I'm not really looking forward to. Gonna need to sleep it through before I digest that one. Just take your break – and hey, 'you got an Acolyte to save'", he snitched in the end.

**- Den child -**

Main engineering sector

Entering the main engineering brought a surprise to the hiigaran who slowly limped into this huge world of technological masterpieces – especially since the cruiser was considered a 'nimble' one. Despite most of this region weakly lit most of the systems not emitting much power and vibrancies and considering the ship recovering from the attacks, shifts of technicians, operatives and other engineers were still around working at full capacity.

Several of them would shortly wave down to the commander, become surprised of her looks but sooner or later would return to what they were previously doing – obviously, hardly any of them heard about the rumor. As she walked further, the itch she had previously returned, slightly more annoying than before.

The smell of charred equipment filled the air but – wait… She was carrying the smell with her. She was the one emitting that smell – but other than that, the surroundings of this world emitted dreary howls caused by systems and other smells from elsewhere. Unexpectedly, there was a missing segment of the entire area: the hyperdrive module and its surrounding 

conduits – the actual core of propulsion. The emptiness infused worries into heart of the hiigaran.

Bypassing technicians shortly greeted her before carrying on with their duties. She had to admire them for their deeds. Then again, the entropic plasma masses were still present, despite their intensity deteriorating during the passing hours.  
While slowly limping along the railed platform, another pair of male technicians wearing damage control symbols on their suits held a conversation.

Hailynn eavesdropped as she walked by.

"… So what about that 'gravity leak' reported at the intersection between deck seven and eight, mate?"  
"Nothing big, wasn't really a big 'leak' there. Just one of the cohesive field units failed at that area surrounding the gravity lift – y'know the typical inertia field that always fails first."

_Hailynn's eye suddenly widened as a flashback ran before her eye within a heartbeat._

Hailynn continuously bashed through and clumsily jumped over countless obstacles that loosely stood upon the floor. Due to her foregoing training in operating such low-g area, each jump was a 'skilled' choice of movement that allowed her to move ahead without losing much of her velocity. The gravity of the area was very low. Certain jumps would cause her to even bounce against the ceiling every time she miscalculated.

Nevertheless, she was in a **desperate** hurry!

All injuries trembled only and suppressed dull pain, delayed by split moments with every rapid pounding occurring within her as she frantically 'ran' for her life, holding an active bomb unit whilst being chased and fired upon by the second vaygr saboteur.

Hailynn's communication unit was smashed; luckily, it saved her from a hyper-velocity projectile round penetrating her tissue after struck through several dense objects – losing most of its devastating power. Ironically, the bestial pain caused by the impact, the crushing of her unit and lastly the bone fracturing of her left shoulder, also evoked temporary numbness, rendering her unable to sense the pain for a while.

Hailynn's mind heard of such occurrence where the body would prevent critical pain through a moment of shock – Lucky for her, it was only local... for the outcome of becoming unconscious would have been **disastrous**.

_Her memories leaped moments back into the past._

Only recently did she, Velle and others found the bomb recently planted – at the same moment the round smacked upon Hailynn's shoulder. Loss of mind Hailynn suddenly knocked Velle aside with a painful arm swipe, picking up the bomb unit – cursing and provoking the vaygr gunman by his objective… now she sprinted away 

like never before… - shouting at Deena on the way to make her way immediately to the logistics center - all happening in a sudden instance.

_. Another recall revealed itself, lapsing back into the moment recalled before._

Knowing the ship better than the vaygr, Hailynn ran for the anti-gravity service lift. With a certain field of the deck being inactive, she was sure that she could jump all the way down without receiving too much injury.

The bomb needed to be disposed – and there was only one place for it. Hailynn was unable to do two things at the same time. Despite her left hand holding the bomb unit, she felt absolutely nothing. Her left arm was merely lifeless – but she was thankful she was not feeling the pain right now.

Almost at the lift, Hailynn knew that the vaygr would have a clean aim for her. If she would not counterattack, she would be shot in the back…  
Calculating her next hasted jump, Hailynn used all of her strengths to spin herself around; simultaneously spotting that vaygr that appeared around the corner not far from her.

Unexpectedly, Hailynn surprised the vaygr as he made his move ahead. Due to his superior physical strength, his leap ahead was much more powerful than hers – but did not expect to spot the aim of the reversely-drifting hiigaran holding handgun straight at him.

"FRAKK OFF!", the hiigaran woman yelled at him and unleashed three powerful rounds from her handgun – The last round sounded a noticeable click that revealed there was only one round left in her handgun. Each hit caused minor explosions that exploded upon the torso region of the vaygr… his armor immediately deformed – noting signs of a lost consciousness.

flash… jolt of fear

"Not yet!", Hailynn yelled.

At the same moment she rotated and flew over the gap of the anti-gravity service lift, Hailynn sensed the missing field returning – but it was too late to stop, the field was slowly building up…  
"egads!", a powerful grip suddenly caught her in mid-air… The vaygr! He was still alive. The vaygr reached her at the same moment she leaped downwards. Both now floated downwards with a descent that hardly increased – thankfully … The fall to deck was not deep, but due to the situation, it was a small eternity as she fought for her life.

Luckily, the regenerating field only increased marginally. It was going to a moderately landing… despite their momentum about to hit the walls during their descent. Tackled in mid-air whilst floating downwards, Hailynn desperately fought against the hulk that tried to kill her.  


A long flight… perhaps a final fight – The painful landing ended along with Hailynn pulling the trigger of handgun at the utmost closest confrontation with vaygr… A powerful flash lit between in front of her along with an explosive yield of energy that engulfed most of her hand…

_Her hand curled her sore-bandaged left eye. The recall of the flash evoked intensive pain._

"Gods, I hate that field generator."  
"You got that right. You had to see the other technicians though. Hopping around like a bunch of kids in the near-to-zero-G zone. I thought they needed a short while to fix it, but no, they were having a good time in it sigh. Whatever, bridge command actually had a backup system to reestablish full gravity, but some surveillance operative aborted it – making the whole damn backup system frakk up. – Whatever reason, man, I just hope the executive officers will never evoke that low-grav flight – or whatever- profile again like we did before pulling that 'Morovuur' jump."

"Oof, tell me about it, mate. Nearly puked just because of that."  
"You only 'nearly' did… I did. Trust me, not fun. Believe it or not, there are still ships in the navy that still using low or even zero-g areas naturally on the ship. Can you believe that?! They use inertia stabilizers **just** to avoid getting crushed on the wall during accelerations!"

"Man, now that's crazy!"

"Yeah. Other than that, that procedure still exists on this ship too – for which I hope never to come alive."  
"Well, it does have its uses, mate. Can carry some heavy gear and stuff in no time."

It did not take long until Chief Engineer Brogan found the unusual person walking along the catwalk – usually, he would ask the stranger if he or she was looking for a job, else he would show the exit. After exchanging experiences shortly, both slowly walked side by side as the chief gave his report – and his usual complaints about the ship, bridge command and several other issues…

"So, one turanic intruder nearly made it in here?"  
"Yeah, happened outside the sealed door when armed operatives stumbled upon that guy. The weird thing was that that was when that guy surrendered. Took them some discipline to lead that turanic away. For some reason, they also said that it was as if the turanic intruder received some sort of order. "



"I see… Well, we'll worry about that later. Orelis told me that we are stranded in deadspace?"  
"Officially – Yeah, we're stranded, Commander", the stressed man replied to her, "But there is a lot more to it."

"That would be?"  
"Y'know, Commander, this ship is special one. I'll cut the story with the Bentusi gimmicks about it – We are actually still able to hyperjump, but the methods available are way too bizarre. Unless you want to be surged by hyperspace with a chance of some 98 to 99?"

"You're saying we are still capable of jumping?", she asked with a surprised tone.

"Hey, hey – Don't take it for granted. I was just saying that it is possible. Don't even try pulling another thing like that one. This ship is a _weird_ one. You have **no idea** how many hidden capabilities and things it has. Thing is that practically all methods are not suitable for… let's say, for sane living beings of carbon basis. waves hands Anyways. The 'Vjel' is currently beaten up and licking its wounds – but now that I mentioned it – there's something crazy I have to show you before I bring you on to the stray girl."

Shortly activating a stored file upon a vacant console, the screen immediately ran a surveillance image of several occurrences.

"Check it out. You see what's happening all of those footages?"  
Hailynn witnessed several occurrences during attacks upon and within the ship through the screen. Numerous areas within the ship _bled_ fluids, but regenerated and sealed themselves over time. Those specific regions would first swell then shrink to its normal size over a long period of time accordingly to the time-lapsing feeds.

"Bentusi alright. I didn't know she was one of those bio-mechanical… living ships."

"Damn right you are, Commander – and why do people keep referring this ship being female?! Damn crazy enough that I have to put up with all of these haywire systems – now I notice it's a damn living ship! I'm not going to start talking to it like as if it were some kind of problem child either!"

"We should reconsider that one…", she replied.  
"Yeah, yeah, I know – I know. We should be thankful 'she's' a livin' Bentusi ship, saving us from getting grilled alive and all that stuff. Look, I'm not mad at you or anything, Commander – but I think the kiithid navies done it all wrong. They should've stated the operational area of the 'Vjel-Amaj' within, not beyond, amaji territory. Whatever. If I had 

known this ship was bleeding blood… Should've hopped on that standard cruiser instead when I had the choice – made by hiigaran hands…", Brogan complained but then noticed that Hailynn's mind was elsewhere.

Hailynn's halved view frequently skimmed the entire area. Many places to hide; many places to be. Clearly enough, all possible spots hardly had any activity going on. It took her several moments until she discovered a potential location.

"She's over there, isn't she? Down at one of those bulky comb things?", Hailynn quietly asked and began limping ahead.

Brogan's mouth fell open with a puzzled face. Her guess indeed marked the spot where Brogan found the girl.

"Now just… **how** did you know that girl was over there?"  
"The girl's like a Polsvoice mouse, Brogan."  
"A –what- mouse?"

"Polsvoice mouse, a common animal and pet on Hiigara. Cute little mice that don't like crowding loud areas, but places that have a special low vibrating sound and that are nearly enclosed. Hard to find when they escape. When I was a kid, I used to have a few as pets and they frequently escaped but they stayed at the place where I lived and slept.  
Polsvoice mice love to build a den around those vibrating sound areas, commonly deep sounds – for instance, any sound that is a soft periodic thump or what we would assume as a constantly annoying vibration with our ears. Anyways, they were dependant on my food – so I let them keep their den and fed them just like that. I had to of course keep an eye on every step I made when I entered the room."

Hailynn smiled shortly. He raised an eyebrow as he heard the story.

"Aira is pretty shy and hates loud noises… I just sense she is there."

Brogan followed the woman who limped ahead of him. She seemed anxious to see her. After a long walk, Hailynn began to slow her pace as she looked ahead upon the many rows of metallic combs and other disassembled units resting on the lower level. Far away from the activity of other crewmen, Hailynn's ears did percept a specific noise correctly.

"Yeah, the girl's in that one, over there", he pointed out upon one of many combs, "Had me worried for a long time, Commander.



After the ship gone haywire, it was said that she ran across the ship hysterically and later somehow managed to get into the engineering area through remote access. No idea how she managed to get through the locked-down sectors.

Anyways, Aira has been there for hours and it doesn't seem like she will be coming out. I told the boys and girls to leave her alone since she was very unease and frantic; nervous breakdown, I don't know, I'm an engineer, not a rocket surgeon smirks. We wanted to help but – maybe it was better leaving her alone after all... and with this ship full of sub-reactor units around the engineering deck, I really didn't want to see her get the'unicorn syndrome'."  
"What's that?"

"Never heard of it? Several years ago, somebody was once unknowingly exposed to an area that was recently contaminated by depleted uranium segments. He woke up and something changed on his body. Over the time, a third toe grew from his forehead…"  
"Now that's crazy."

"Yeah, I know – it's a fairy tale joke we senior executive engineers keep telling to the greenhorns – get it? Hahahahahhaha!", Brogan suddenly joked and laughed, but noticing Hailynn not really reacting the joke, he began to calm down, "hahahahe-ehehe… clears throat Sorry, cracks up any senior engineers and scares the crap out of recruits… but no really, she better get checked up for everything. She's been moving around areas and I really don't want anything happening to her afterwards."

"It's alright, Brogan – I'll do what I can to get her checked-up afterwards. Aira acted like that because she saw me nearly getting killed… well, it looked like I was killed - but tell me, Chief, what are those things she is hiding in?"

Brogan straightened his back slightly and rubbed the back of his neck as he explained further, "Discarded stuff. Specifically, that thing she's hiding in is one of many discarded modules of the hyperspace conduit we blew into space. We removed the valuable stuff already.  
The comb itself is disposable and consists of absolutely clean material that can be dumped into space, burn off in an atmosphere or sun, you name it. Stuff we will be disposing whenever I get the chance. The discarded module is an old 'Comb - Beta' alcove that is still hooked to the power grid, just idling before I disconnect it when I'm in the mood. It's not burning power away, just flowing with it – The ship's basic regenerative power is practically unlimited anyways.  
Engineering teams insisted to use this far rear section as a place to dump all the other stuff that we will be disposing some time around. Yeah, I think it was around that time they inspected the area and found the girl crying her eyes out."

Hailynn approached the railing as her ears heard a specific undertone emitting from the comb further ahead and below – not a cry at all, but a much different sound.  


"Thank you, Chief. I will handle it from here on."  
Brogan nodded, but just as he was about to depart from her, Hailynn suddenly mentioned something, "Wait."  
"Yeah?"

"This stuff – this junk is not really in anybody's way or?"

"Err… well… officially, no – not at all. My engineering teams were actually going to send this stuff up the logistics deck, but that damn logistics officer cramped and crapped that entire deck full of stuff they looted from that taiidani mothership we were on. I even had some of the material we have here brought to a few support operatives so others could show them how to use a welding torch through a crash-course training about sealing spots. Anyways, it was crazy when I inspected what the frell my teams were talking about – y'know, the loaded deck. Why the frell do they call her 'Chief Logistics Officer'?!"

"I know, I know… Deena can be strange one every now and then. But she knows every corner of this ship."  
"sighEvery now and then, she says…"

"Listen. I want you to keep all of this _junk_."

Brogan dropped his shoulders, "…uhm… what?!"

"Brogan, please. Aside to her quarters, Aira has nowhere else to go – and it will surely be worse during the time I can't be in my quarters. Aira was in desperate need of finding a spot for her own. This is the only place that seems to suit her needs. Under no circumstance are you to remove anything from this area. Just make sure it is sealed down enough to avoid things flying around if we should ever get into action again. Never disconnect from its idling phase. All right?"

"This place is very secure, Hailynn, natural fields – whatever. But -"

"It's an order, Chief. She needs that _den_."

After a long hesitant pause, he clearly had no other choice but to nod again and depart from Hailynn, "sigh Mice…"

It took Hailynn some time until she managed to reach the lower level. Of course she could 

have taken the lift, but she insisted to use the ladder. Gravity was not so intense anyways. As she finally approached the mess of hulks, her view focused on the specific bulky discarded alcove. Now it became noticeable: The alcove resonated the deepest alternating rapid bass sound she ever heard. It was quiet, but surprisingly, anybody could sense it several meters away with ease. Hailynn became slightly anxious as she approached and touched the cold frame of the hollow _purring_ bulk.

At last... Leaning downwards, she spotted a sorrowing figure amidst this hollowed darkness.

**- An emissary's plight -**

The frail soul within the comb shrieked as she spotted the shadowing figure further ahead of her. A familiar form, but her eyes were too strained from tiresome weeping. Wiping tears away, she could not recognize the shadow…  
It couldn't be… It was another hallucination, surely… Aira was too assured that her prayers would not be heard. When suddenly… the figure lowered itself, dropped a strange object and hesitantly began to crawl into the alcove.

Aira's back pressured hardly against the curved wall, having no escape as the figure barely advanced. Fears filled her soul…  
The figure sounded pain. It was barely mobile. One of the arms was hindered; the legs hardly responding due to pain.  
Again, Aira shrieked.  
_It can't be… So far away from Kadesha's; so far away from Rahji's… Her prayers… they were heard_?

It took several moments until the hiigaran finally came close enough to the kadeshi being – Face to face. The purring of the alcove continued as they both stared at each other.

_It had to be an illusion…_

The being in front of her sobbed quietly. Aira could not believe her eyes.  
After a much careful approach, her hands hesitantly approached the face: Her hands slowly slid upon bruised skin, over bandaged eye, messed up hair, shoulders and lastly returned to the eye that dropped a tear… Another one ran down Hailynn's cheek, just before the girl burst into tears, merely grappling her arms around the strained neck of the woman.

Both beings fell into a cry of joy… until Aira suddenly pulled back again – She began to stutter in her kadeshi language, speaking gibberish, fast and nervously as her hands once 

again felt Hailynn's bruised face. Hailynn breathed heavily into her face as she once again sobbed. Moments went by until Aira calmed herself down slightly, "It… illusion… N-Naji… can't… b-be…"

Hailynn forced her body to crawl further, circling herself around the girl the best she could, giving her the most caring embrace… an embrace the kadeshi girl had not felt for a very long time – She was alive - barely.

The girl's hands curled around Hailynn's stained and messed up uniform jacket Hailynn gently threw over them as a blanket. Hailynn needed several moments and repeats until she managed to calm Aira down – carefully telling her that she was truthfully alive. Aira's soul finally accepted Hailynn's existence as she felt her warmth and embrace. It was the true reality.

It took another long time until Hailynn was able to explain the girl what happened and how she survived, excluding the terrifying details to avoid scaring her further. Despite Aira accepting that Hailynn was alive, the hiigaran still sensed great fear and unease from the girl. Hailynn's hand went though Aira's silky hair. Wondering what still kept her under fear, the hiigaran asked her – Aira suddenly went silent.

Closing her eyes slightly, Aira began to tell the entire tale, the sorrowing legacy and the pilgrimage of the Kadesha's Seekers, the turmoil within the Garden of Kadesh and the 'Ark' across the galaxy for the _truth_ with the same words she expressed from the majestic kadeshi emulator and her plight as an emissary amidst the path of legends… Each word spoken revived the timeless journey she expressed during her symbiosis.

Never had Hailynn felt deepest sorrow for the girl who admitted her endeavors, her pleas , her prayers for Kadesha and Rahji and thus Aira's quest ending in _**failure**_; Never expecting that there was a **lot** more to it about the kadeshi and her everlasting desolation.

This was the moment the girl cried most that intensified by her following words…

"_…I… I am not a being – I… am not… a living being…_"

Hailynn's mind did not understand she meant.

The sobbing girl continued with a sorrowing tale about her true self – about the fact that she was not unique as everybody perceived her but a 'mirroring entity' of a so-called "The First"; herself being the last duplicate among many. Deepest doubts tainted Aira's mind; even deeper disbeliefs of her existence troubled her soul; the woes of being an emissary possessing both 

'Eye and Tear of Kadesha' surfaced and plagued her even more.  
Hailynn felt the girl becoming more and more anxious and unease…

The moment became so tense that Aira's psyche began to even question why Hailynn embraced such 'abomination'… a being who did not possess a soul but a mere... illusion of a chosen being – The being of the true _Aira_ that has died generations of years ago.

How could such a _farce_ assume and be assumed as the emissary chosen by fate to follow the legend of her legacy? Again and again, the girl would question her existence – _What is she? Why is she?_

Hailynn's arm tightened around the girl, hoping her embrace would calm her down – and it did take much time and care until it soothed most of her woes. Something seeded the girl's with corruption and awe of her existence. The hiigaran pinched her eye slightly as she was shortly reminded of Pethera's remark that the girl was a liar and farce alone just by her trying to follow a 'myth'.

_That time and again. That question…_, Hailynn thought. That question she asked herself days, if not months, before when she first met and accepted custodial care for the girl. Though disgusted by the fact that she ever questioned Aira's self, it returned with a definite note of mystery. Ironically, Aira's self questioned Hailynn why she embraced this untrue 'something'.

_Was she untrue_?

Hailynn's hand smoothly drove through the girl's silky hair. No doubts, throughout the few months she had been with this adolescent being, it has grown.

The hiigaran forged further thoughts. Aira had practically all aspects of a living being; she breathed, she is growing, she is alive, she had the scent of a living being – Most importantly, emotions that resembled her as shy person with fears - blood flew through her – everything of a living being… and yet, Aira is assured she was an unnatural existence. There were indeed certain aspects that spoke against her true self, starting with her abilities, her hyperactive sensibility with the ship, her _song_... her affinity to things not a single kushan could express and many more aspects of mystery.

Hailynn lacked knowledge for answers. If Hailynn was an 'augment', what was the girl then – beyond being an 'entity'… no… 'unbound? There was an enumeration of possible things, but she was going to have to leave this for later – she was too tired for it now.

_Why does Aira exist_? – There was a _use_ of her – but there was something else. Nobody but the Bentusi seemed to know who she was… There was simply more to it… The question was no 

longer 'who' – it was '**what**?'.

_What is she_? – What will her future be from now on, now that the 'Vjel-Amaj' left 'Kadesha's Ark' and its suffering fleet of believers to its veiled destiny – now that Aira was the only soul who could do something about their future… How was Hailynn to fulfill her pledge, her sworn promises?

Hours went by as Hailynn quietly listened to the girl's woes until she fell asleep…

The purring comb finally soothed the girl of her misery. Once more, the hiigaran stroked the hair of her _mysterious little sister_. Everything that had to do with the girl's self ran through Hailynn's mind before her fatigue lastly made her fall asleep – probably also caused by the cramped up position she had attained for hours in this dark metallic purring bowl.

At last, sleep finally took over her; something they both had been craving for days. Nightmares and dreams awaited both souls…


	21. Chapter 20 Homecoming part 1 of 6

(Narrative voice)

There is a wise saying: "War… War never changes…"

Wars are constantly fought throughout the galaxy. Should it be for survival or prejudice philosophies, it does not matter. Nations, factions, hegemonies, empires, kiithid, crusades – They all may oppress each other and despite the outcome or duration of such war, both sides suffer throughout ages and generations of hardship.

No matter which ever side may be in advantage of success: Those enduring, those witnessing, those experiencing the ongoing war will some day question the intentions of their leaders. Sooner or later, these wars will afflict the oppressors as well.

It may not be now… but some day… some day…  
(end of narrative speech)

long yawning

Feeling the ride coming to an end, the officer gently slapped the side of his face several time and straightened his clean new uniform. While the deserved long sleep and the final shower did him well, he still was affected by the aftermath of the adventures through the gaseous expanse. As the doors shifted open, he immediately spotted an armed marine waiting at the wall of the corridor.

"Commander Orelis – Good morning, sir", the marine greeted, shortly removing his hand from the rifle's grip to perform a short salute.

Observing the marine, Orelis recognized the armed marine as Corporal Aaron Salico of Amaj. Aaron seemed to have had a lousy sleep – that is, if he actually took some. Judging his overall looks, the marine still wore a combat gear; most of it being scratched and marked by battle. Several of his ammunition clips were missing, which were probably depleted during the raiding incident. The trained marine was most likely still on full awareness.

Suddenly, a shout was heard far down the corridor, followed by a few sparks jumping out of the wall. The operative wove his hand, showing that he was alright. Other moaning technicians approached the open panel of the wall, revealing burnt electronic entrails.

"Hoo boy…Mornin'? Heh, I must have lost track of time", the commanding officer replied as he exited the lift.

Orelis looked down both ends of the corridor and discovered several operatives and technicians dealing with technical issues. The deck was rather calm as the two men made their way. Much noticeable, Orelis' ears merely welcomed this moment – unlike the blaring alarms and terror that occurred many hours ago.

"If I may give you an advice: avoid deck five if possible, Corperal."  
"Sir?"

"I had to do a detour since the nearest access lift was malfunctioning… There was a _waste_ leakage in one of the maintenance tubes. Aside to that, there are still 'morgue duties' to be resolved there, too."  
"Roger…"

"One great thing I saw was that a long line of volunteers are still up for blood donations. But anyways… You were the one who convinced that taiidan officer to surrender?"

It took several moments until Aaron was able to reply, "Yeah… yes, sir."

The grim officer rubbed his forehead. Hearing the report of captured intruders was one thing, but the upcoming interrogation with the 'sworn' enemies at the brig was going to be a lot more of a complicated matter. Other operatives passed by.

"Tell me, just _how_ you did that? I mean – They were gung-ho serious with this infiltration. Vaygr, turanics… taiidans – frell, they were out to kill us all this time through and then they just give up like that?!"

"Not really that sure about that one", Aaron answered, noting that he was still affected by the aftermath of the entire operation, "There was this moment where a squad of armed operatives and I managed to corner that specific group of those turanics and two taiidans who seemed to be superior officers leading the raid. A highly trained opposing force they were – but things went awkward. I understood a loud argument between the two commanding taiidans – something about the two vaygr that were presumed killed-in-action."

"They were arguing?!"

"Yes, arguing. They both had some sort of disagreement. After a short moment, one of them – most likely the higher ranked one – suddenly declared surrender and demanded all of their armed men to seize and immediately disarm themselves. That officer guy even broadcasted that surrender over open frequencies, probably the reason why separate opposing gunmen across the ship suddenly gave up. That officer guy really meant it."

"That really sounds weird – so weird, I'd actually rather keep my distance from the brig."  
"That wasn't all, though, sir."

"Hey, Aaron, drop the formalities for now – but what are you talking about? And speaking of that, didn't you say that only 'one' female taiidan officer was alive among several turanics now at the brig? Man… Lots of women on commanding positions lately sigh"  
"The superior taiidan officer committed 'jigaii'…"

"…Gee-whaaaat?"  
"Surrendering to a losing battle is one thing, but considering taiidan officers, they prefer not to fall into enemy hands – not alive."  
"You mean they…"

"Exactly. It was a very ugly scene, sir. Only moments after the argument with the turanics leading to their surrendering and pushing over all of their weapons, the superior male officer suddenly stood up and took steps towards our people. I shouted at him to stay back or I would open fire – but that did not impress him anyhow. I also demanded the operatives to stay back and keep sharp of any attempts. That was when the man suddenly pulled an elegant blade slowly and slit…", Aaron paused, "… Gods, the blood. We've seen much these last days but that was… insane. Was a terrifying one, I tell you, Commander."

"Whoa… and what about this female one who survived?"

"No, yes… err, well – she attempted to commit suicide, too – but just before that knife of hers touched her neck, I pled her to stop", Aaron explain. It was noticeable that the pale marine was affected by experience, "We held this bizarre conversation… argument… Just moments before we were trying to kill each other and then… and then I end up trying to convince her of staying alive – as if that weren't insane enough. Jigaii is some traditional taiidan suicide method – no idea why they do it, but they take it seriously. I told the woman that life was not over – they may have committed serious crimes on us, but we would not desecrate their honor albeit their defeat."

Aaron uneasily recalled the moment he stood with his rifle aiming for the taiidan woman, then lowering it as he desperately tried to convince the woman.

"sigh Traditions… I heard these taiidans don't really understand _our_galactic common well either, how were they to understand you that well then?"  
"I'm of taiidan heritage, actually, sir."

"Really? Didn't know about that."  
"I'd prefer nobody else to know about it either, sir."  
"Heh, if you are lucky, Deena doesn't know. If she does, it's too late, Aaron."

"It was close call, anyways. I have no idea why the turanics follow the taiidans, but Commander, you won't believe your eyes or ears when you see the turanics and hear what that taiidan is up to."

"No way, man. Ha-ha-ha… no way - Nothing will surprise me from now on. Danced our asses through M'randara, nothing will hit me from here on – and hey, cheer up. You did an extraordinary well as a commanding unit", Orelis complimented to the marine, "Coordination at the bridge was already much of confusion but you kept your cool and were pretty much the only guy who kept initiative."

"Thank you, sir – but I was the only 'highest ranked' marine left to command those operatives. With three other marines spread across the ship, I had no other choice. If we only had Major Bahur and the others… we could have saved more lives. "  
"I know… I know… and I have yet to see the full casualty list. Something I am definitely not looking forward to, but as usual… We've no choice."

"There were a lot of gunfights as I made my way through – far too many things that happened at once."

Both continued on their way to the brig.

The Brig

After bypassing several security perimeters of the darkened brig's sector, both Orelis and Aaron stood at the entrance of the large imprisonment room. Despite the ship's elegance compared to others, all brigs always had the dull appearance of silvery tones upon its walls.

Though greeted by another subordinating marine and five other armed operatives stationed along the wall, there seemed to be slight tension in the air. Alike Aaron, the other marine also showed sign of stress and daydreaming due to a lousy sleep. The operatives however were pale, anxiously keeping watch and awareness upon the other side of the room. The air was cool but gave a definite metallic scent. Aside to the voices, distant regulators pulsed breathable air into the large room.

Surprisingly, Captain Quenton Soban was already in progress of negotiating with the prisoners. Noticing him sitting across the table with the officer, Orelis guessed the captain was assured that neither taiidan nor the turanics would do any harm. A short look to Aaron revealed that the taiidan and her subordinates kept word of surrender seriously.

"No way…"  
"Told you, sir…", Aaron commented to him as Orelis observed them:

The only taiidan of the bunch was the female handcuffed officer; a determined-looking young woman with sharp eyes, short brown hair – somewhere at the age and only a tad smaller compared with Hailynn Delixa. On the outside, one would not be able to tell the real physiological difference between kushans and taiidans – but usually, the psyche of the beings would reveal their differences sooner or later. The taiidan seem stressed; an aspect Orelis would commonly see among his weary crew.

Granted, her appearance did not reveal all too much other than Orelis only distinguishing her as some sort of marine or naval officer in a superior leadership position. What confused him though was her uniform, which was the cutting line between elegance and durability for any harsh condition, hardly giving the impression of a lethal intruder. He assumed taiidan raiding parties had officers behind the strike groups rather than within. The taiidan woman wore emblems that Orelis recalled from history classes – he had seen those emblems in books and even in some weird action holo-movies when he was a kid.

After Orelis smirked inwardly, his face suddenly frowned. The turanics on the other hand gave many reasons to be skeptical of. Anxiety was written on the faces of the amaji operatives who held their rifles low but ready. Aside all facts, there were two main aspects that led to his after-all surprised reaction. One laid-back, bored-looking female turanic sat besides the negotiating taiidan; the rest of the turanic faction remained further behind, also handcuffed and quietly listening to the ongoing talks.

Noticeable differences were written on their foreheads. Simple as it was, most of them were of turanic full blood; a selected few including the one who sat next to the taiidan, barely had ridged foreheads – resembling the fact that they were half taiidan, half turanic. The most noticeable thing that actually caught Orelis by surprise was their age and individual appearances. None of these men or women really seemed to be older than the common generation of amajis on the 'Vjel-Amaj'; most likely in their mid-to-late twenties. Youngsters, another selected few just bypassing the adolescent age… Each and every one of them had the looks of some distinct retro-urban style, wearing vests, clan tags, tattoos - definitely **not** what he expected.

All of them were athletically built, seemingly well-trained for any means of combat. Granted, these turanics were not like those manic tribes and raiders among amaji space – but they all wore separate things much to the confusion of Orelis.

A raiding party was one thing, but this was not some disciplined troop – this was some sort of mixed up… Orelis found no word for it.

Nonetheless, they all revealed trace of combat – but also sign of fatigue and messed up clothing, as if they had been on a journey for ages.

Excluding the captain, Orelis and the others never really had seen turanics other than in the media back at Amaji Prime, usually about arrested or condemned ones. It was true that they all had no eye colors but tones only ranging from black to light grey; also that they seem to naturally lack the perception of certain colors as well.

Up to now, it became clear to Orelis how dreadful the gunfights throughout the ship must have been for the amaji operatives… They were shooting upon people who were just as bloody young.

Aaron stared upon the taiidan woman who only returned the same glare with those sharp eyes; most of her face was hidden behind hands due to leaning her elbows upon the table.  
"Commander Orelis, Corporal Aaron Salico - Welcome", the captain greeted them after ending the dialog with the taiidan officer, "I am glad you joined us so soon. There is much to be discussed – developments to be explained and understood. I have had a thorough negotiation with this officer."

Both men saluted to the ex-captain of the ship.

A short glimpse over his shoulder revealed anxious operatives, "At ease, men. They are no longer of hostile intent. It looks like we are in desperate need of a 'kiith advocate' now."

The operatives within the large room hesitated to respond to the captain.

"S-Sir?", Orelis questioned with a puzzled face, "You require a… _lawyer_?"

"Yes. Aside to the political situation we already have with the vaygr refugees, we have another faction requesting asylum along with their foregoing previous _bloodtruce_", Captain Quenton replied and focused his view upon the group ahead again, "The operatives who are currently present seem to be the only ones who possess slight knowledge of such laws."

Orelis tried to find words, but stuttered. Them surrendering was already a surprise, but regarding the request of asylum and a pledged bloodtruce?!

Two female operatives nervously whispered to each other.

"Ena Takaii hirue amajenkeii… moeii qaii… mo…", the roguish female 'taiiranic' next to the negotiating taiidan slowly commented along with a head gesture . After the remark, a few of the turanics behind smirked and chuckled slightly. Her words obviously made fun of the squirmy young amaji women across the room.

"Ma'gre TAII!", Aaron suddenly barked at them, "Watch that mouth of yours, turanic scum!"

The group on the opposite side revealed surprised faces. That young marine they confronted hours ago understood their language indeed well.

"Ladies, gentlemen. At ease", Quenton calmly demanded, "We are no longer enemies. Please, no more harsh comments -", his view then returned to the taiidan officer and the taiiranic once more, "- no more insulting slurs or taunts either. Please. Please speak in galactic common. The tongue is flexible enough for all of us to understand defined meanings. My taiidan tongue differs too great to comprehend due to their – or my dialect. But pardon my forgetfulness. Amaji, this officer is Delophane Vamaii, serving a rank similar to that of a Lieutenant. The turanic woman next to her is Beii Keljin, supposedly a subordinate leader of the turanics behind."

Delophane Vamaii greeted when she heard her name and bowed her head as she was not able to perform gestures. The taiiranic woman only sighed with a bored look to them before looking upon her handcuffed wrists. _Price of freedom…?_, she asked herself inwardly.

"With all due respect, Captain", Orelis suddenly noted with a serious undertone, "but this is madness! I must apologize again, sir, but these people… just hours ago they were trying to kill us – and they **did** happen to kill both non-combatants and operatives who failed in defending their lives! They invaded us – killed our people - and now they want truce?!"

"Bloodtruce, Commander. We may differ from them, but we still represent the Kiith Amaj and its pride. We are no longer death-sworn enemies as declared bloodtruce is a codex both sides respect", the captain calmly explained further, "Their affiliation and deeds caused with and by the vaygr were more or less a cause of persuasion. I assure you, Commander Orelis, this is a delicate issue that requires kiith advocate negotiations solely."

Orelis denied and shook his head, "Sorry, captain, but I doubt that. They are..."

A woman's voice cleared her throat, "Loyalist…", the voice repeated with a note of accent.  
Delophane, the taiidan officer, repeated the word once more, "Loyalists… Yes. We are."

Strange for Orelis to hear saying exactly what he thought of.

The captain arranged his view once more upon the two who sat ahead of him. At a brief moment, Delophane perceived a grumble of discomfort from the usually impatient taiiranic next to her. It was noticeable that something had been bugging her and the other turanics behind for quite some time.  
Frequent eye twitching… faces hiding behind their limbs… Delophane knew her turanic friends too well – Surprising both Aaron and Orelis again, both spotted the taiidan woman making a short smile, as if she thought of something amusing.

"Excuse my directness, Captain Soban… but my fellow subordinates are affected by the illumination intensity of this room."  
"It is I who must apologize. Please forgive me, for I have forgotten about _turanic sensitivity_. Operatives, please dim the lighting of this room."

Aaron gave an annoyed hum from himself as the lighting was dimmed, due to the fact that it was already dark in this place.

Furthermore, it was odd for the amajis to see how _diplomatic_ and polite the captain was with these… killers.  
Relieving sighs echoed through the room.

The taiidan woman continued her intended speech, "Thank yourself", she misspoken, most likely cause by her dialect, "Yes, as your subordinate intended to say, we are loyalists – just alike you, subordinate officer... O-reh-liss. We may be of different bloodkeii, but the moment the captain and later on, you, entered this imprisonment, I sensed your loyalties… I must correct oneself: By bloodkeii, we are loyalists – but our minds are not tainted. I assure you that my brethren were not of free will. Our kind has suffered for generations amidst 'Curse'."

"_Curse_?", Aaron asked.  
"The abundance of that blighting curse throughout that star system, dren-ki", the taiiranic woman snarled in taiidan dialect, somewhat insultingly.  
"Say that again, punk!", he replied in taiidan language.

"Seize at once", the captain demanded, "I assume the officer is referring to the nebula expanse we know as the M'randara Star System. Operative Sanrin?"

"Y-yes sir?", one of the two female operatives replied, "Here…"

"Are you still recording all of this negotiation."

"Aye, sir. Still 'live and on air'."

"Excellent. This is important as future kiith advocates, Amaji High Command and of course, Commander Hailynn will require this report. Please, Officer Vamaii, continue."

"To understand", Delophane nodded, "Our 'nations' have been entrapped within 'Curse' for generations. Both of our kinds have suffered greatly. Throughout our struggle, many of the already elder leaders aged to death due to lack of what is known as long living serum."

"Longevity."

"To understand. Turmoil in both military and serving nation spread throughout our rows", Delophane once again misspoken certain words, "As you may to notice, my surrounding brethren are of young generation. We suffered greatest."

Aside to the lingual difficulties, Orelis' forehead formed wrinkles as he crossed his arms and wondered where this story was leading to.

"Our relatives and ancestors prevailed throughout 'Curse' for years. Our relatives told of a story before our time, the majestic mothership known as 'Taiika' serving _his shadow_, Emperor Riesstiu IV, was infestation by a… _Virulency_… "

Despite the wild mishaps of her dialect, one could easily come to the conclusion that the taiidan was referring about the semi-sentient biomechanical remains of 'The Beast', proven by the discovery of the withered infestation upon the derelict mothership days ago.  
"This was when real turmoil breaken loose, servants of amaj, and -"

Beii bumped her elbow against hers and mumbled something from the side.

"- Czass, Beii. Breeding lives within 'Curse' was much of a problem. Chance of survival risen when serving prospectors discovered a planet amidst 'Curse'. Prosperity occurred. The remaining leaders decided to strip the mothership of its propulsion and Singulariteii Core – to some day return when the _Virulency_ would fade. Decades passed - Throughout the years and our births into the youngest generation, our 'nations' confronted the 'nation' of Kadesh. Surprising – for these beings exist among the fringe of a far different quadrant in the galaxeii. Amidst time of this, a _crusading_ nation of warriors discovered our existence… Brothers and sisters of our blood – Blood of 'Taiika Aksaii Vay'! Those were a generation offspring of another taiidan mothership that served amidst the _shadow_ of our emperor. A century had passed since our lost contact with 'Taiika Aksaii Vay'…"

The taiidan woman suddenly paused.  
"To serve and survival is our bloodkeii", Beii suddenly mentioned with her turanic accent, "Vaygr bloodkeii flows among ours, our bloodkeii to vaygr – but our bloodkeii suffered ongoing war with Kadeshi."

Both Aaron and Orelis made noticeable movements of gloom and pondering; the dialect and its flawed expressions with galactic common was indeed a tough one to comprehend.

"Bah…!", Beii impatiently cursed, "Dennu szekrii amajen dren-ki ulizeii taiikaneii…" – obviously annoyed by the fact that the counterpart side of the room had difficulties understanding... and of course, her impatience.

"Liisaii, En-keii!", the taiidan officer demanded loudly to the taiiranic, obviously demanding her to stay quiet, "To excuse herself. As I spoken, to serve was our dignity… no… definitely false wording I assure. Duty of serve called our blooding brethren – my brethren, my brothers and sisters, to serve the war. Young bloodkeii as you are seeing…."

"O-Officer… Vamah – Vamay?", Operative Sanrin's voice stuttered.

Delophane nodded.

"What is an 'enkay'?", the female operative asked.  
"Beii is of half-bloodkeii of my own."

"Half-blood? She is, of all respect, a half-turanic, but also half of your blood… bloodkay, you say?"  
"Czass… I mean, yes."

"Operative Sanrin", the captain wished to clarify, "Despite their last names or definitions of their 'kiithid', Beii Keljin is Delophane's half sister."  
Surprisingly, there were in fact _distinct_ similarities.

"If I may ask a question", Orelis demanded to her and straightened his back, "Just what made you so sure about us amaji… How did you people actually decide about all of this? This is some confusing frakk of bullshit I never heard in my life!"

"Despite loyalist – Taiidans and turanics of no choice but to serve. Many lives were lost to the kadeshi. To mindlessly by the vaygr as well. Vaygr crusading only seeking bloodshed. Amidst the war, we discovered your ship – a distant 'nation' of Kushan-Kharakeii. Surprising… our only survival was defection – but my bloodkeii was among serving warriors of Vaygr. Contact we wish with your blooding know as Amajikeii – but our intention were to be of our death if Vaygr were to sense our wish."

"Orelis, Operative Sanrin. A note to the record: Despite the doctrine of Pax, it seems the attendees were forced to serve under the vaygr crusade. Albeit taiidan loyalty, defection was their only true way of survival."

"Was still no reason to slaughter us when they invaded our ship!", Aaron shouted at prisoners disrespectfully.

"Attain respect, Corporal. That is not all. My instinct tells me they were _persuaded_ to fight our people."

"To precise, Captain of Soban", Delophane continued, "Not all of my brethren – precisely my clan, my true bloodkeii - wished of defection. Vaygr crusaders were of legendary will – many of my taiidan brethren wished to serve under their will – but not us."

Orelis took a deep breath. Clearly, he hated all of them, despite their stories – but just for this short moment, he thought about some of her words. Presumptively granted that – and just from their point of view – maybe there was some truth behind their words?  
He still saw an enemy in them; but if that taiidan officer was trying to pull some sort of psychological warfare on him, she was doing pretty well in that aspect. Concluding her words, the taiidans, and of course the turanics as well, still had some sort of 'call to arms' pledge and that so-called Pax, that dreaded doctrine that turn any mind into a zealot of that fundamental will.

The grim officer concluded further words of the taiidan. Not only was it complicated, it was now clear how delicate this issue was. The onslaught was not caused arbitrarily by the surviving taiidan-turanic side –ironically, they were possibly victims of persuasion who seek refuge from the ongoing madness by all leaders. However, the persuasions also forced them to cause lethal deeds upon the amaji crew in order to stay alive and fool the vaygr… They only wanted to stay alive…

The taiidan-turanics may have served with their lives to support the slaughtering war against those Kadeshi Seekers and of course the Singularity Core they took from them, but some of them were not mindless. It must have been some sort of bloody coincidence that the 'Vjel-Amaj' appeared to support the Kadeshi. Another thought filled his mind.  
Aside to the coincidence, they must have focused specifically on the task of boarding the 'Vjel-Amaj' but only had one shot in doing so.  
The commander shook his head. They had to stay clear of the ship's defensive systems – probably that moment they endeavored boarding that was coincidentally the moment Hailynn demanded final retreat from the M'randara Star System.

However, those who wished to defect and intend surrender were still persuaded by gunpoint, aside to the amajis who only wished to defend their lives from the unknown intruders. The confusion and hostile approach of course made matters worse when they boarded the 'Vjel-Amaj'.

Unexpectedly, Delophane slammed her handcuffed wrists upon the table; her silk-gloved hands formed fists,  
"We never intended to shed amaji-bloodkeii! I am to speak for my intention when we boarded this ship! Intrusion was deadly… I to know of this! To regret, I wish… To blame, I am… Certain people of my clan were forced to serve the two remaining vaygr warriors… Amajikeii threatened our lives before we were able to endeavoring negotiation…. We were also once of many, but ethereal hyperspace surged – tearing lives into deaths…"

Orelis' eyes widened. Hailynn's plan of surging the side of the ship helped to kill off the intruders – but it also killed those who only wanted to _survive and surrender_.  
A cold shiver ran down his spine again. Delophane's entourage did not know that that surge was caused by Hailynn's will of killing them. The real 'Friend or Foe' question slowly proved itself as friend… and they probably killed many of them – nonetheless, more of those dreaded deadly vaygr infiltrators were surely on those two other pods.

"In unfortunate… Officer of Taiika, of higher rank demanded my brethren to serve the vaygr with our bloodkeii. I endeavored creed, but he did not to understand at first. Other brethren followed the order of his and of vaygr servants. Only when amajikeii succeeded in ending existence of vaygr servants, I at last endeavored and successful! However, Officer of Taiika still believed in loyalty to Pax Vaygr. Following the heed of my desperate plea, he declared surrender at last… but his loyalty brought shame as an officer… shame brought him death…"

"Pff – Officer Vamaii! You were just as obsessed as those killers", Aaron attacked her verbally, "You were about to stab your neck and spread your blood across the floor right after his move!"  
"I – I…", the taiidan woman stuttered.

"I don't know why I actually told you to stop! You and your frakking troops killed a lot of people I knew very well – I should actually…", the angered corporal suddenly raised his rifle.

"Whoa – Whoa! not another gunpoint!", Orelis yelled at him.

"Corporal Salico. I demand you to lower your rifle", Captain Quenton demanded calmly – as usual.

Beii was about to intervene, despite being locked up – her intention surely to be a violent one – but she was held back by Delophane's denying gesture not to provoke an escalation.

"Captain of Soban. No… He is right to be of anger. It is true. I wished to perform 'Jigaii', but not truly as loyalty to my Officer of Taiika. I assure you… It was of shame for shedding bloodkeii of all oppressed 'nations'. If execution wills to be yours, Cor-po-ral… so it to be. I deserve… but please – to understand, I also _feared the future_. Bloodkeii was shed… I willed to die despite to unknowing of my clan's future, but it was you who dared to convince me… of life… not death… _life_…"

The operatives were petrified by the sudden situation. The other marine wanted to intervene as well, but his sluggish reactions due to tiredness held him from responding; he was stunned.  
Again, he recalled that bizarre argument he had with that woman.  
He remembered the eyes of that officer woman, Delophane, who wanted to cause another dreadful suicide just like that officer recently. Everybody had fears – despite the hatred he had against all enemies of the kiith, he discovered the same fear within her eyes during that moment the blade hovered only a centimeter above the critical spot of her neck.  
It took several moments until Aaron lowered his rifle again.  
Everybody calmed down; especially Orelis, who felt a lifetime's moment of grief and relief passing by. He also sighed. First vaygr and hiigaran refugees… now a handful of turanics and a single taiidan wanted asylum.

"Sigh I need a break from this… madness…", Aaron lastly commented.

"Corporal, I am no longer a superior officer, but I suggest you attain recreational endeavors. I suggest you to end duty and rest."  
"I'm with the captain here, Aaron. It's best you get some sleep. We all went through some crazy _shit_ these last days… Some _real_ sleep – you deserve it.", Orelis 'politely' demanded as well.

"I will do so."  
"Do not to depart yet…", Delophane pled, "Please listen further."  
Hesitating to leave, he halted and turned around as Delophane insisted to speak further about her brethren and the misguided intentions.

The clan of Delophane was most likely the small portion of those who wished to escape the curse of 'Curse' and the mindless onslaught. The bloodshed of the vaygr and their taiidani leaders must have conflicted with their conscience.  
Aside to Delophane who openly revealed her deepest regrets for their deeds, the turanics throughout the room did show laments due to the persuasion. It was that moment again where Orelis felt the same regrets he had for Hailynn when she confessed her flawed self.  
He raised his head; These people were telling the truth…

Main Engineering, rear sector  
Two souls quietly slept, hidden within the shades of the deep purring comb. Both have been asleep for many hours – however, one of them began to move uneasily. Despite the nightmares having passed by for a long time, something else seemed to disturb the girl's sleep.  
Silently shrieking, Aira's reaction also awoke the embracing hiigaran. Cramping pain petrified Hailynn, but surprisingly, she did not call a sound but had an open mouth showing pain. Several moments went by until the cramp faded again.

Aira suddenly curled closer to Hailynn, as if she had sensed something that scared her.

"…A-Aira… What is wrong?"  
The kadeshi girl did not answer but moved her hands upon the sides of her head. The tight comb hardly gave Hailynn any space. Hailynn noticed the girl's unease, but it was not the usual 'frightened' reaction as if something bad was happening.  
_That chime… an echo of a humming bell… motions…_  
The girl's mind was still distorted – but after a long while, words finally left her lips in a whisper, "_Th-They_ are coming… We are no longer alone… N-Naji… _They_ have found us…"

**Chapter 20 – Homecoming**

Almost another twenty minutes later.

"D-Did I understand you right, Kelsea?!"  
""Ah…A-Affirmative, sir!"", Kelsea's slightly distorted voice emitted from Orelis' shoulder radio, ""Observation discovered _Tachyon_ particle readings – m-mothership ship class – and it will be showing up here any time around! Commander, there is only one race in the entire galaxy that -""

"Don't panic! We'll be on our way to the bridge – Orelis out!"

A single look to the captain revealed that he understood the situation.

"A-Amajen?", the arrested Delophane dared to ask, "W-What is to happening?"

Orelis hesitated to respond.

"Officer Vamaii", the captain replied, "Our ship is stranded somewhere in space. In order to return to the Kiith Amaj, we attempted to beacon distress. Apparently, tachyon particles emission reveal the soon emerge point of a **Bentusi** vessel – as said, a vessel resembling that of mothership class signature."

"B-Bentusi-keii?", Delophane repeated and dropped her shoulders, surprised to hear that the amaji were affiliated with the enigmatic Bentusi - only recalling stories of the legendary race that sailed the entire galxay she never met in her life.

"Czass", he confirmed in the taiidan language, "Unfortunately, Officer, I cannot allow any of you to leave the brig as severe allegations and concern still prevail. I have no other choice but to detain your clan further upon the brig until further notice."  
"To understand, Captain of Soban", accepting the condition of custody.

Sanrin and the other operatives suddenly cheered, noticing that they were probably going to come home after all.

"Very well… If I may comment, Officer Vamaii, your loyalty to your clan is… respectable. Pride."

Delophane only bowed her head slightly as all the two amajis officers, the three operatives and the two marines departed from the large room.

"These last days were pretty crazy, captain", Orelis commented.  
"Indeed."  
"Bentusi… smirks Never thought to hear **good news**… for a change."

Corridor beyond the Main Engineering Sector

"A-Ai… Aira! gasp", Hailynn stuttered as she fought trying to move fast. The kadeshi girl was in a hurry, outright desperate to reach the bridge as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, Hailynn's body had not even regenerated a single bit during the long cramped-up sleep. Her limbs were still severely sore and were of course hindered by the medical bandages.  
After the public announcement of the detected bentusi jump anomaly, several operatives along their way also rushed and cheered along the corridor; some of them even froze as they spotted the bandaged hiigaran who was actually believed to be dead.

"Ai-ra… wait! I need a… break…", Hailynn suddenly gasped. This rush to the executive deck and the bridge was far too strenuous for her severely bruised body, "Getting'… too… old… for… this…"

Suddenly, the hiigaran halted and stumbled upon the wall. Her sore left eye and headache forced her down to the floor. Others immediately came to help her out. Aira suddenly stopped as she noticed her absent caretaker, "Naji!"

The partially tattooed girl immediately rushed back to her.

"S-s-sorry, Aira. I'm still too weak… I can't keep up with the pace – Why don't you go ahead and –"  
Ignoring the other operatives and technicians, Aira instantly hugged Hailynn's neck, "My n-naji… Forgive me… It is I who must apologize."

Obviously, the girl's hasted enthusiasm led to the lack of consideration for the hindered Hiigaran. Hailynn however knew that the adolescent Aira had a deep emotional connection with the Bentusi; Their soon appearance being something the girl had been longing a few months, especially after expressing the life and death of Shodanii and the thriving adventure through the dreaded expanse.

"A-Aira, com' on – It's okay. You go ahead, girl gulp"

Unintentionally, Aira's embrace around Hailynn's neck tightened more as she gently squeezed her head upon the cheek, "My soul bears not to leave your side… Naji… I beg forgiveness…", her soft voice spoke, "The Bentusi… I sense their _song_. They are coming, Hailynn, they are coming!".

After releasing the hiigaran from her _friendly_ choking, Aira's gestures and movements still revealed great distortions within her mind as she spoke further in excitement, not noticing that she even spoke in kadeshi and gibberish galactic common, "- alas-sheh, my naji, tennu gesh is'shi – from your side… tennu from your side…", and once again embraced the hiigaran one more time.

A few of the surrounding operatives had to smile as they saw how the girl hugged the seriously injured woman in her wrecked uniform. The kadeshi girl worried too much for the hiigaran.

Brig sector

Two bored amaji operatives who stood guard duty, one of them being Operative Sanrin, noticed a person's voice approaching them. Strangely enough, they did not expect anybody else coming since the captain and his group already negotiated with the prisoners within the large cell behind them and were about to take care of the diplomatic contact with the bentusi.

"Mmhmhmh… hmmhmhmhmhmmhmmmm…", a voice happily hummed from the corner.

Nervously looking towards that direction, both finally spotted the source of that _humming_… bird?

"Heeeeey 3", the person greeted friendly and wove her hand.  
The eyes of Sanrin and her colleague widened as they recognized the black haired woman in a slightly dirty dark green uniform and symbols resembling that of a high ranking logistics officer.

**- When worlds collide? -**

At the same time…  
"Whew, sorry guys hey, how's it going man?", a familiar voice spoke from the far rear end of the bridge while greeting somebody at the side.  
"Quan!", Kenta yelled back to him, "Where've you been – what took you so long, darn it?! Been calling you for ages!"

The bridge still emitted the periodic chime.  
Kenta's brother swiftly made his way past several stations as he arranged his clothing. The bridge was already alive again with several other operatives already taking care of internal affairs of the ship; above and below were pairs of technicians fiddling around with the technical veins of systems.

"Hey, I just got up – didn't pick up the line 'cause I knew you'd be screaming me to hurry. Didn't expect to be kicked outta bed so suddenly, y'know. Logistics said I had tons of hours for off duty and - "

"I know, I know – I'm sorry, but as Orelis said, he wants everybody on duty and stated 'Condition: Yellow', Q. He will be here any time soon. No idea about Commander Hailynn."  
Finally reaching the observatory station, Quan sat down upon the seat and adjusted himself closer to the consoles.

"All right, all right – but why the darn rush?", he questioned her while looking on all screens, no sight of any bentusi ships other than the anomaly.  
"Tachyon radiation – Bentusi are coming to us…", Kenta replied and paused.

"Well, looks like Aira's distress worked but… umm. You called me up here just to tell me that? I know Orelis wants us on duty, but man, you could've given me more time and -"

Kenta's face became serious, "Quan, I need your help."

"What?"

"The emissions from that jump anomaly out there are starting to interfere with my astronomic survey! If I fail to analyze all of the data I gathered these last hours, the tachyon distortion will screw up and falsify my cartography!"

"But -", Quan replied to his sister but hesitated to answer.  
His sister was determined to get this specific task done. He knew Kenta was always somebody who wanted to get a job done, but when it specifically came to cartographic and observatory surveys, her determination became even stronger. Not only that, Quan also knew that Kenta was a person who sought for beautiful pictures of nebulae and the prismatic formations surrounding all arcs of the ship.

One could joke that Kenta was alike Aira. The galaxy offered so many things for the eye and there was a lot more to it why both loved the observation.

_Silly girls and their adore for pretty things_, he thought. Quan did not really care much about the galaxy, but his mathematic knowledge for taking on complicated astronomical calculations gave him astonishing advantages during the academy times several months ago.

The 'Vjel-Amaj' offered a plethora of sophisticated observatory systems; systems and technologies they never thought to put their hands on. One of these specific technologies considered best for the task was an imagery capture system that allowed breathtaking accurate pictures coupled with the computers that dealt with the in-depth cartography. Taking photos with standard telemetric scopes were nowhere close to the capabilities of such imagery system.

Knowing his sister well, she was also a devote artist who loved painting the galactic sky – another amaji characteristic throughout the kiith. She was also dependant of these imagery captures used for inspirations, but aside to that fact, she had an innermost sought for these images – most noticeable when she does happen to see them with her naked eye through the augmented telescopes.

Previously, this unknown grid somewhere in deadspace ironically offered a clear view for the observatory, clear and free of annoying fields and emissions that would mess up the sensitive captures – on the other hand, if an astronomer were not able to filter other disturbances within a certain time, gathered images would wither due to the short-lived memory system of this effective photo capturing system.  
Unfortunately, tachyon emissions belonged to one of the worst enemies of such astronomical photographer.

Quan had doubts since this deadspace spot was unlikely to be an important spot but Kenta was begging for help. Understanding his sister's plea, he nodded and decided to help her out though knowing that it could be too late.

"Sooooooo, what's up, guys?"  
"Chief Deena?- well…"

Both stared at the logistics officer. Her appearance was still riddled with signs of battle and dirty oil smears, but other than that, she seem fine and had the recognizable happiness written on her face. Aside to her looks, loud noise emitted from her headsets, as if she were listening to some sort of loud music – most likely the reason why she was speaking so loud.

"Been rough times around, eh?"  
"Yes but… Chief - exactly 'what' are you doing here at the brig area? Th-this is not the logistics deck, ma'am."

"I heard we have a few _guests_ onboard – right here – behind yah", Deena giggled while putting the muzzle's shaft of her bolter shotgun upon her shoulder, "Turanics, a taiidan – once enemies, now friends! Gotta ask them some questions. Negotiation stuff, yeah."

"Err. Sorry, Chief", Sanrin replied to her and shrugged, "The captain and others already had a long conversation with these imprisoned people and I was told to hold guard for a while with Ebes. They're pretty exhausted right now… but, how do you know about these people so precisely?"

"Most of all", the other operative asked, "What does a _chief logistics officer_ have to do with them? Thought you were logistics, not surveil-"

The lively officer threw her hands up, "- Now, now. I have my ways grins - I don't have much time, people, sooooo, I'm afraid I'll just have to use my rank to get in, or? Heh-heh…"

Both operatives looked at each other. Obviously, they had no choice. Doing as said, the other operative gave the access code several times, attempting to get the sequence right while Sanrin explained Deena some security notifications.

"Ch-Chief, I really advise you to ask questions through the speakers from the interrogation room."

"Owww – Nevermind that, Sanrin", Deena replied and wove her hand at her.

The first access security door opened itself finally.

"Yeah, here – hold this for me while I'm in there, 'kaaay?", the bubbly officer said to the woman while tossing her shotgun, sidearm and small ammo-pouch at once to Sanrin who just barely able to catch them.

"Y-You are going in there unarmed?!"

"Ahh, I'll be alright. You two just wait here and – umm – just wait here."

The strange logistics disappeared behind the closing access door.

"I heard she was a weird personality – but that she was this crazy…"

During the moment before, both half-sisters continuously spoke with each other at the centric large table as the other turanics rested upon the surrounding beds of the huge cell.

Surprisingly, the small clan of turanic men and women behind the two never had such comfortable beds for a dreadfully long time – none of them actually complained any further after the lights were dimmed. The end of battle was already countless hours away and yet, most of them still had complications trying to fall asleep.

The air conditioners quietly hummed.

Delophane hid the lower part of her face upon her arms; her officer cap in front of her on the table. The taiidan officer, while exhausted, still found no reason to lay down as she worried about the future. She shortly dusted off something from her uniform. Beii, who wore a grey tank top and a militaristic vest, still sat next to her with a bored glare.

This ship has been quiet for many hours, don't you think, Beii?  
Czass.

So… We're already light years away from the people we know…, Delophane sighed and flicked the officer's cap in front of her gently. Despite her small clan being one of many groups that were merely persuaded and _enslaved_ for myriads of tasks, there were still people among the taiidan-turanic nation she liked.

Hmpf I still don't think this was a good idea, en-keii, Beii said to her half-sister as she knocked her handcuffed rights upon the table again, If I wanted to be locked up like this, I would have shot that one officer I hated back at 'Curse' a year ago.  
After a long pause, Delophane suddenly giggled, smirks I would believe you if didn't have a crush on him, Beii.  
Grumbles That wasn't a crush, Delophane.

Is that so…? What then, hm?

Astonishingly, the grey-eyed taiiranic looked away; the usual reaction of her half-sister trying to hide her blush. Delophane smiled shortly – but then frowned, But I know what you mean, Beii. All of us been through so much **trouble** and … and now we end up in some cell with these unknown people called amajen…

Beii Keljin; Half-sister of Delophane Vamaii, both daughters of a taiidan father but separate mothers. It was a common occurrence considering such 'half-siblings' within the turanic-taiidan nation of 'Curse' – also a normal cause due to the turanic ways of colonial _breeding_.  
Alike Delophane, Beii carried a short militaristic hairstyle – colored dark red - and the common silvery eyes of turanics. Despite her being a leader for the remaining turanics, Beii was more of a loner and a quiet personality. Thinking back, Delophane began to wonder about things again. Her taiidan nation and that of the turanic was a really odd couple.

Forgetting about those days of famine, power struggles in the lines of leaderships and other events in their lives; both grew up and survived. To survive meant for them to serve the nations struggling within nebula known 'Curse'. However, despite the various clans united under the same flag, such struggles also led to inner conflicts.

Sarcastically, one frequently recurring nightmare was the worst of all: The abandoned taiidan mothership that still possessed the vital technologies of survival such as regenerative fuel cells for the entire struggling fleet throughout 'Curse'. Every visit to this place was a horrific one.

Delophane shook her head… her mind was drifting off.

Ironically, Beii and the remaining turanics within the room had disregards for harsh violence. They understood the military hardware, but it was the fact that they had more of a common sense than most of those **lunatics** serving throughout the nation they fled from. However, their future was still a mystery. In the line of self-defense and persuasion, they were forced to fire upon the 'amajikeii'.

I suppose we will be executed, Beii suddenly remarked with a serious tone and crossed her arms again, We killed these… amajen... and with the vaygr doctrine brothering with our nations - I seriously doubt these amajen will take a simple apology… and of course by the shadow of their affiliation with the kadeshikeii.  
Don't say that! I am still hoping for the best, Beii. It does seem that they want to give us some sort of chance to explain ourselves… or… not?

Delophane. We were ready to die if all should go wrong – even you had such doubts that you nearly performed 'jigaii'.  
I was about to do it because -!... because…, Delophane's voice went louder slightly, but she caught her voice before it disturbed the others – however, she ended her sentence at that point.

I don't care about the amajen, Delophane, but your suicide attempt did…, the roguish taiiranic hesitated to speak further. Surprisingly, her taiidan half-sister lowered her head upon her arms again and smiled inwardly.  
Beii was never really the person who liked showing emotions but her worries did surprise Delophane yet again. Beii was indeed affected by Delophane despite only being her half-sister; but then there were thoughts of that amaji gunman who told her to stop and not to fear the future – as dark as it may seem.

Delophane nonetheless felt disturbing doubts about the amaji now as she flicked her cap one more time.

All the sudden, the access doors of the cell opened, revealing an unarmed amaji officer in a dark green uniform and long skirt who kept stumbled over the edge and floor railings due to her elegant uniformed shoes.

Noticing that some of the people resting and not noticing her appearance, Deena joyfully whispered, "Hey there. Oww… pretty dark in here… Oh, may I enter and come in?"

"…eh…", Delophane pondered, "Czass… I mean…", once again, she confused the languages.  
"'Sauce'?", Deena copycatted.

"Yes. Czass…"  
"Saaaaawws?"  
"Yes. Czass-"

That taiiranic on the side of the taiidan woman suddenly remarked with a lowered voice, "My en-keii means 'yes'."

"Ahhhhh… I get it now I was like, 'what?' and you said, 'sauce' and I was – like, 'sauce' …"

"I wonder what this is about now?", the taiidan officer asked herself and went through her hair.  
"Must be another interrogation attempt…", Beii proposed, but there was indeed something awkward going on.

"I may enter? Why, thank you two", the bubbly officer said and entered the large cell, "Looks like I did a good choice giving you people one of our cozy 'resorts', eh? Big room with lotsa privacy – so big and comfortable, you'd have doubts that it's an imprisonment cell and…"

That weird amajen officer kept blabbering further about many things as she approached them and took a seat on the other side of the table. Delophane dropped her shoulders while that person ahead of her spoke endlessly – it was already crazy enough that she was asked if that person were allowed to enter.

"To excuse my interruption, Amajen – but… Who are you of identity? What are you to intend?", the taiidan woman dared to asked, hoping she pronounced the words right.

"And – huh? Oh, me – who I am?", Deena replied and suddenly spoke in a heroic manner," Oh, I am Deena Mae of Amaj, sister of Fenna Mae of Amaj – **Chief Executive** Logistics officer in service of the military authority in the pride of the Kiith Amaj – but enough about me!"

The amajen woman suddenly took off the headsets and laid them upon the table. Noise emitted from its small padded ear speakers.

"I am to not understand how you to know of us, Chief Lo-gis-tics", the taiidan officer tried to pronounce her name right, however confusing the field of specialty with Deena's true name.

"How I know about you? Ah… ha-ha-ha… well, ehh – There are _waaaaays_, y'know…", Deena blushed and giggled before pointing a stretched finger at certain places of miniature surveillance cameras, "Aside to me eavesdroppin' between you and my friends, I just wanted to inform you that I also have a bit of knowledge as of being a kiith advocate!"

"Ad-vo-cate? You happen to be such of this 'ad-vo-cate' to deal with military law as of what Captain of Soban requires?"

"Sorta, my _friend_. I, err, didn't complete the degree for it – I flunked – buuuut that should be no problem. I still can help you out. Look, ladies. There are many things I want to know about you turan… err taiidans… all of you!"

"… To… understand…?", Delophane tried to comply and scratched her head.  
Beii quietly raised an eyebrow.

"Aside to _kiithid differences_ between all of us, I'm sure we women have **much in common**! Let us share some things about us!"

The weird visitor seemed very excited about this meeting.

"To not… understand. I am taiidan. My en-keii of taiidan-turanic bloodkeii. You are of amajikeii… We are not to be of same, Miss Logistic."

Deena spoke further, "But we are all still **women** – and there are men in your group here too! Look, you and I, we all are breathing the same air even though we are totally different people! Excuse my words, but I never met a 'taiiranic' or ever talked to such turanic who happened **not** to be trying to kill me giggles.  
And believe it or not, we even have the same bodies – ha ha! Y'know, I want to know more about you people. How life was with the men and women in that crazy cloudy star system – how you survived so long - love life, everything! Lifestyle – your survival – just everything. I've been on that taiidan mothership of yours before we sorta bumped into something and sorta blew it up beyond oblivion and I can say you people are **remarkable**! Not even our mothership… ehh, well, if you can call that colony ship of ours a _mothership_ orbiting Amaji Prime was that HUUUGE! Ask me about anything, too, feel free with your curiousness. So, com' on – hit me!"

A moment of silence - Beii and Delophane looked at each other.

**- Blood by Blood -**  
(narrative voice)  
The Bentusi. A race of space-faring beings like no other. The enigmatic Bentusi Enclave excels beyond the galaxy and the reach of any other known race. As of being truly _unbound_, every being of the Bentusi are physically connected to their ships and only live among the stars, never bound to any planet or region of space; the body and soul of the Bentusi endlessly eavesdrops the galaxy's _song_.

A peaceful race, they are; never ending their seek for cultural interaction, trade and knowledge of the vast galaxy. Light years may separate nations and cultures but surviving beyond the legacy of the ancient Progenitors, the Bentusi endeavor trade and technology as a bridge of friendship among welcoming races. Throughout the last hundreds of year though, the Bentusi have become victim to foes that threatened their existence.

The foes… The first. Once it was the hiigaran ancestors who had greed for power and endured war against this race, who then failed and were exiled to the distant desert planet known as Kharak, soon home of their renamed 'Kushan' race, where they would attain a journey to their true homeworld, Hiigara, to reborn as a nation of prosperity.

The second. The infectious biomechanical and enslaving foe known as 'The Beast' threatened the existence of the Bentusi years after the return of the kushan race to Hiigaran. Many of the vast Bentusi nation fled and only a few remained within the galaxy to support a kiith known as the 'Somtaaw' last but succeeding battle against the virulent foe.

The third. The nomadic Unification of Vaygr Crusades of the Eastern Fringe – serving Makaan, the Supreme Lord of the Vaygr; following the legacy of the Sajuuk and the Three Relic Hyperspace Cores. Though unable to retrieve one of these Cores from the Great Bentus, this bentusi flagship that dwelled among the galaxy's dangerous eye was eradicated by the unified Vaygr Crusade and thus was known to be the last existing Bentusi in the galaxy of that time.

However, young mind, a small number of lost Bentusi have returned to the galaxy when the Hiigaran-Vaygr War ended as due to Karan S'Jet's deep space beseeching plea and the inner galaxy's need of greater aid. Aftermaths of war always lead to an _illness_ in many kinds – Recovery being the most difficult task as lives must seed and prosper again.

The remaining Bentusi Enclave reestablished trade routes throughout the inner galaxy, aiding those who are in need. As of today, the Bentusi continued amidst the legacy given by their precursors.

(end of narrative)

Deadspace

Though the hull of the battered vessel was still affected by the plasma, each of their entropic effects had dissipated over the last hours. Space's cold grip still had not extinguished the violent masses despite the time that brought all three to fade to dark green. By now, long lines of fog and smoke left a trail into open space along.

The breached hyperspace module, its exposed entrails and nacelles were already beyond the range of visibility but still detectable upon sensorial scans. Quietly surrounded by the galaxy's distant beauties of stars and nebulae, the battered 'Vjel-Amaj' cruiser awaited an occurrence soon to happen among the vicinity.

Suddenly, an energetic breach between time and space occurred not far from the amaji vessel's dorsal upon an unusual arc.

"Tachyon radiation exceeding the scale! Hyperspace emerge imminent!", an operative confirmed from rear side of the bridge.  
The bridge echoed sounds of warning as Quan reported, "Bentusi **mothership** class signature detected! "

"So. I guess the distress beacon really worked", Orelis commented.

"_- and I guess we're just on time…_", a familiar voice sounded from the same area.

Noticed by every member of the bridge, Hailynn and the adolescent kadeshi girl were spotted as both slowly made their way towards the bridge's center – step by step. Several operatives of the new shift who had not heard of her survival still could not believe their eyes while they followed each timed movement from the hindered hiigaran woman.  
Those who knew of her survival noticed the same wrecked uniform and clothing – some even felt sorry for her as her looks were true evidence of her struggle for the sake of the entire ship.

As the two bypassed the sensory station heading to the small command center of the bridge, Hailynn and Aira were greeted by the Captain and Orelis – even operatives welcomed them loudly.  
Sensing the emerging vessel appearing from hyperspace, Aira's arms once again embraced the sides of Hailynn's bruised hip as they all witnessed the golden yellow tachyon wavefront expanding and slipping across the arcs.

"…Whoa… Those Bentusi surely know how to show up", Orelis commented again as the entire bridge crew witnessed the appearance of the bentusi ship. As for himself, he had seen this happen a few times, but each time was a breathtaking event.

During the occurrence, Quan shortly turned his view over to Kenta, who quietly frowned and looked downwards as the emerging vessel entered normal space.  
When she raised her head, Kenta discovered all of the beautiful images she collected before becoming blurry and perforated due to the peaking tachyon radiation levels that flooded the cruiser's surrounding space. With each second passing by, the radiation merely eradicated and distorted the delicately captured images without scruple.

Kenta noticed Quan wanting to cheer her up, but she wove at him and gave thanks for his help. The hours of gathering these beautiful captures were at least more than just a pleasure despite not having the sufficient time to permanently develop them.

And there it stood; The bentusi leviathan, raging nearly three kilometers across the arc, shaped of a gigantic tuning fork shimmering in all tones of pure gold. A thriving moment as all eyes were thrilled with its majestic appearance, despite the discovery of the much larger vessel before.

It was the same vessel from where the 'Vjel-Amaj' was _christened_ before its transfer to serve the Kiith Amaj as a symbolic flagship. Again, memories filled the minds of many; the first day – the first impressions…

Doing a double finger snap, Orelis turned around towards one of the logistics officer, "Hey, where is Fenna?! We'll need a helmswoman very soon! No offense, Hailynn. You're still in bad shape."  
"Tell me about it…"

"Commander Orelis, sir?", another female voice called from the side. It was Kelsea calling for his attention who hesitated to speak further. Her silence reminded him about something.

"Alright, Kelsea – but hold on, we'll still need you for the communication operation just a bit."

"U-Understood."

"What you talking about?", Hailynn asked him from the side.  
"I don't know, but she seems to have interests in piloting this ship, Hailey. Can tell you about it later on."  
"If you say so..."

Different chimes were suddenly audible.

_At the same moment, Aira's psyche felt the presence of many unbound songs emitting throughout the bentusi vessel when the tachyon emissions began to vanish. So many beautiful sounds touched her frail soul that she somewhat feared them.  
Heeding the noise beyond the majestic songs, Aira sensed myriads of voices channeling among the vicinity of the bentusi vessel; Voices speaking in a multitude of languages and what she could percept as Galactic Common – radio chatter, clicks, electronic signals, white noise – all of them – and even the most encrypted ones were clearly audible albeit not understanding the different languages.  
Traders and entrepreneurs of many nations spoke with each other at the same time. Despite the noise activity being intensive, it was nowhere alike what she expressed during the hours of desperate terror trying to save 'Kadesha's Ark' and its suffering fleet. The reminder of her suffering people led to awe again; sorrows that made her turn view towards the pack of stars upon the smallest clod of the galaxy's never ending sky. So many light years away… - headaches._

The unbound presences of the bentusi vessel slowly began to focus their interests upon her and the battered amaji cruiser. Within single moments, waves of invisible but noticeable scanning beams fondled and tickled upon her skin as they went upon each corner of the 'Vjel-Amaj' simultaneously.

"Commanders, Captain", Kelsea reported as she held her hand upon her headset, "Bentus Harborship 'Primus' is hailing us over a bentusi frequency."

"Music in my ears", Orelis replied to her, "Return hail and maintain an uplink to our friends. Sooo… who's willing to do the talking?"  
The group of surveillance operatives smiled.

"You first", the wrecked hiigaran woman pointed at him whilst trying to speak with dry throat.

"sigh All right, all right.Yeah, give the diplomacy job to the inappropriate guy…"  
"I will support you if needed, Commander Orelis", the captain assured him.

"Channel uplink established and open."

Everybody awaited the voice of the bentusi with great anxiousness.

""Greetings… Wayfarers of Amaj…"", a deep soothing voice echoed over the bridge's speakers, ""We are the Bentusi 'Primus'.""

"Thank the gods of Kharak The 'Vjel-Amaj' greets you with pride and honor, Bentusi 'Primus'", Orelis replied, "This is Lieutenant Commander Orelis, currently… second-in-command of the 'Vjel-Amaj'. Bentusi Primus, we are so **very glad** to see you", his voice spoke in much greater tone of relief.

""Souls of the 'Vjel-Amaj', we have sought for your… wellbeing… for several planetary cycles of your homeworld. We sense great… dismay… upon you as your souls that sailed into the… _deep_.""

Looking over and across the bridge at some of the troubled faces that noticeably recalled the last days of terror, Orelis quietly rubbed his forehead as he hesitated to speak, unsure of where to start, "Y-Yes, Bentusi Primus. _Dismay_ – I must apologize but I am not sure where to start with an explanation. Our mission was to extract a faction of hiigarans in distress at the edge of the M'randara Star System.  
However, hostile forces forced us even deeper into the expanse… much deeper – and there was much _dismay_ we confronted and discovered. We did not expect to undergo so much trouble. We've discovered many historical things during our journey but also depleted most of our supplies. We have documented as much as possible we would appreciate to share with you."

As the crewmen and women stared upon the screens, several of them noticed a multitude of unknown vessels departing from several arcs of the Bentusi 'Primus'. The Harborship indeed carried anchored ships of traders and many other races the Kiith Amaj never met since their foundation.

""We understand. The Bentusi Enclave endured contact with the Kiith Amaj, sharing our knowledge of the star system. We… fear… this 'world' you call M'randara. It is forbidden for our kind to enter its realm. The M'randara Star System is rich of _treasury_… but it will **corrupt** our souls… end our _songs_… We shall never become bound.  
The Bentusi fears this world with great awe. An observer endured watch upon your souls until the cycle of day you vanished… Souls of 'Vjel-Amaj', you honor the Bentusi with your return from the 'World'…""

"Thank you again, Bentusi 'Primus'. We have survived an ongoing war between two cultures – hence, barely. Our ship stressed itself too much that we were forced to eject our hyperspace module and nacelles. We apologize for the trouble we may have caused due to our distress beacon calling you to us – but our ship was crippled, we had no other choice."

""Souls of 'Vjel-Amaj', it is the will of the Bentusi Enclave to ensure prosperity of the 'Vjel-Amaj'. We, the Bentusi Primus, sense your distress and will return your souls to the Kiith Amaj. We sense your vessel has undergone severe hardships and that it has lost its _heart of travelling_ the endless sea.  
We will return you to your amaji Homeworld, Souls of the Amaj. This is our will. The Bentusi shares interests to the Kiith and the kadeshi child. pause The child – it was her voice we heed… A voice of great distress that brought fear to the Bentusi. We sense… differences… within the 'Chosen One', Aira.""

Operatives cheered and astonished quietly as they heard the news that the Bentusi really were not only going to help but also bring the ship back to amaji space.

Orelis himself could not believe it either – It seemed as if Hailynn's plan of hitchhiking through the galaxy was going to work after all. However, noticing other unknown vessels departing from the Bentusi Harborship and engaging hyperjumps, he pondered, "I am – thankful - amazed, B-Bentusi Primus. But I must ask a question something. Bentusi Primus. You are a Harborship and… uhm… Your ship is known to reside strictly among trade routes across the regions of space. Aren't your _guests_, the representatives of other cultures, disgruntled about making such a… detour… to our position and our home planet – for us, amaji?"

"The sake of the 'Vjel-Amaj' and the 'child' excels beyond the need of the Bentusi and our… guests. It is our will following the legacy given from our precursors."

Aira hid herself slightly behind Hailynn's side again as the others gave a short gaze upon her. Explainable for several amaji, the Bentusi must have detected the 'Vjel-Amaj's distress when Aira witnessed the 'death' of Hailynn Delixa.  
Combining the facts, her scream was not only a physical but an outright frightening psychic and ethereal scream that was merely heard far beyond space – As far out it may sound, Aira's powerful outburst must have caused a great distortion that even scared the Bentusi.

""The 'child'… A… song… We sense it. It is true? The young soul has _prospered_ within such cycles – She is no longer an entity… but the soul is… shattered…""

Wanting to enter the conversation, Hailynn laid her hand upon her communication unit but then noticed that her smashed radio unit was not upon her shoulder. Kelsea tossed her a handheld radio and reset it for the desired frequency through her console.

"Clears throat Bentusi Primus, this is Commander Hailynn Delixa, currently Superior Commander of the 'Vjel-Amaj' and caretaker of Aira. We all have undergone severe hardships during our struggle for survival through the star system.  
Bentusi, we have confronted a troubling situation between nations we would never have expected to meet within the M'randara Expanse. The hiigarans we rescued at first turned out to be in a peaceful relationship with vaygr defectors who no longer wished to serve any crusade – and that for a very long time. However, we were not only attacked by the true hostile vaygr crusade, we also discovered an ancient taiidan mothership, definitely older than a hiigaran century – and a kadeshi race that has flown… I mean, sailed, across the whole galaxy for a legacy to be unraveled and returned to the 'Sea of Lost Sorrows', the distant homeworld of the Kadeshi.  
However, Bentusi, the Kadeshi are not hostile as it is proven that Aira is part of their legacy – we do not know to explain this… but whatever it may be, the Kadeshi are in desperate need of kiithid support. The vaygr and the surviving faction of turanics and taiidans of the old empire have joined forces under the doctrine to eradicate the Kadeshi titan known as 'Kadesha's Ark'. I… I…"

Hailynn spoke so long that she lost sense of what she was actually talking about. There was far too much that occurred that made it too difficult to explain in short words.

""Hailynn of the 'Vjel-Amaj', we are honored. Yes… Yes… A taiidan mothership. There are tales of confronting such wayfarers of that time, Hailynn of Amaj. Please… enlighten further.""

"There… there is too much that happened, Bentusi Primus. We all suffered greatly. Everything – Everybody. We sacrificed much and threw ourselves between the vaygr's hateful attacks for the sake of the kadeshi existence – which is why our ship also still is suffering under the effects of the plasma and other attacks. And -", Hailynn suddenly paused as her attention was caught by the captain's waving hand, "E-Excuse me, Bentusi, may I ask you to please stand-by?"

""Patience is our virtue. We await your return"", the deep enigmatic voice replied.

"I am sorry to interrupt your diplomatic dialog with the Bentusi, Commander Delixa", the captain explained, "but I have an urgent request from our lead medical officer, Doctor Jonas. Due to the fact that I am no longer superior commander, I hold it for important to let you decide on this urgent request."

"Yes, sir, thank you. Kelsea – could you please -?"

The young amaji operative already gave a hand signal that she was 'on air' with Dr. Jonas just now, "Not bad… Ehm, here's Hailynn. Go ahead, Doctor."

""Commander! I apologize for interfering with whatever you are doing but **this is serious**! We have serious medical problem! Many of my patients are in **critical status**!""

Several operatives made shocked faces. It seemed as if the aftermath of the battles was still a serious threat.

""My medical teams are exhausted and the need for blood and surgeries are exceeding our capacities. Blood donations are not enough, Commander, we need help and we need it now. I heard that the Bentusi have appeared and that you are negotiating with them right now.  
Sorry, Commander, but this is urgent: If we want the casualties to avoid suffering exsanguinations - We will need to get our people to the Bentusi as soon as possible! I don't believe in miracles, but their medical capabilities are the only 'miracles' that might succeed if we don't waste further time!""

As everybody listened, Hailynn shortly turned her view over to Orelis with a much troubled and serious gaze. Unexpectedly, tension within the bridge once again grew within a single moment.

"Bentusi, Commander Orelis here – I apologize for my harsh intervention but we have a serious situation going here! Despite our efforts in recovery, a moderate number of our crewmen are in danger of losing their lives due to the injuries and exceeded capacity of our medical teams. I must apologize for my harsh plea, but my crewmen are in desperate need of medical support!"

""Do not fear, 'Vjel-Amaj'. It is our will to endure life. Enter our ship. We await you and your tales with great interest. Please endure an enveloping of gravity upon the 'Vjel-Amaj'. The Bentusi Primus will lead you to our soul.""

"Thank you! finger snipsKelsea, your area!", Orelis ended his speech and pointed his hand upon the helm.

"Bentusi", Hailynn called out lastly, "My crew is desperate need of blood – I assure you we will share all of our experiences, gathered information and discoveries with you once we are docked! We owe you our lives! I wish I knew a way to thank you…"

""Ensure life – that is the Bentusi way. The bind with the 'Vjel-Amaj' and its precious lives is what the Bentusi always seek. It is we who thanks you, souls of amaj. We look forward into meeting with you.""

"See you soon, Bentusi Primus, Hailynn Delixa of the 'Vjel-Amaj' out!"

The amaji communication officer immediately disconnected her plug-in cables from the communication station albeit doing it clumsily and made her way to the helm of the bridge. It was noticeable that she was very nervous.  
Fenna was nowhere around and all eyes stared upon her as practically everybody but Orelis did not know that she learned some _very basic_ knowledge of navigation and helm skills just by observation – but on top of the eyes staring upon her, lives were counting on her too.

Hailynn's face turned back upon radio unit she held in her hand,

"Doctor – can you still hear me?!"  
""Yes, Commander!""

The wrecked hiigaran paused shortly. Sore pain was unraveling itself upon her again – There seem to be no end to the pain.

"Okay, hold on and listen, Doctor! Everybody! This is serious! We've got endangered lives – if we don't do anything soon, they will **not** make it – so listen up! While we get the ship towed into the Bentusi Harborship, I want a _relocation operation_ to be conducted! Doctor, have all critical patients to be stabilized the best you can so our logistic operatives can conduct their relocation to the airlocks!"

""Understood, Commander.""

"Logistics, get every free hand of operatives you can get! We will be needing clear coordination of the casualties – and get Chief Deena on the job – ASAP!", Orelis continued and clapped his hands loudly, getting the attention of everybody and waking those who seemed drowsy.

The status lighting of the bridge and those throughout the ship illuminated the medical distress symbols, which alarmed the rest of the crew that a medical situation called all hands to report to duty. All logistic operatives immediately proceeded with the desperate task.

"Commander Delixa, ma'am?! I await your instructions!"

Turning her view over to the helm, Hailynn spotted Kelsea already seated and ready for her guidance. It was much of a surprise to see Kelsea at the helm.  
Though it still had to be proven if she was worthy of being a novice pilot, it was clear that she was a multitalented operative who was not only limited to communicative duties, but who also could maintain the sensory and now the helm. Returning back to her senses, Hailynn had to understand that the stress was not over.

"All right, Kelsea. I have no idea who much you know about navigation but we have no time for going through the tutorial. Just do as I say. In order to tow us in, we must align all of our ship's gravity field units with an alternating negative impulse frequency of the bentusi vessel!"

"R…R-right…!", the operative stuttered, not having the slightest clue what she actually meant with the technobabble – clearly have zero academic knowledge in the field of 'wantum physics'.

After several moments, the 'Vjel-Amaj' came to life again, soon to be towed towards the bentusi vessel's inner side. With the inertial stabilizers being only moderately operational, everybody felt the slight motions and effects of gravity working on them and the ship as it was towed.

Hailynn and her crew desperately continued their efforts with the docking and relocation operation.

As the crippled amaji cruiser was carried towards the interior side of the beautiful Harborship, all eyes were amazed by this inner world and the numbers of exotic alien vessels stations everywhere beyond the docks.

For a change, it was a welcomed sighting since everybody still had the frightening recall of floating corpses and other signs of death in mind when they confronted the derelict taiidan mothership. Ships of all sizes and shapes were docked upon the surrounding areas, freighters and other vessel slowly moved along – separate crewmembers even spotted recognizable ones… also those of… pirates.  
However, punisher pods and ships of the bentusi drifted throughout the interior of this lively region, quietly policing all segments. The scenery was simply remarkable as the beauty within this biomechanical wonder never ended – but at last, the crew was now truly ensured of their safety… 


	22. Chapter 20 Homecoming part 2 of 6

**- Reunion Troubles -**

Main Airlock Segment – Logistics deck, Portside

All status lights throughout the ship shifted from red to blue. Public announcements were held as everybody continued with their tasks. Like upon many of such airlock segments latched upon the 'Vjel-Amaj', the main airlock segment was connected with the biomechanical tube that led to the interior atmosphere port of bentusi vessel.  
These tubular connectors were huge and wide, offering much space for three decks to transfer anything from goods to people from each. After thirty minutes of chaotic procedures and stress, the last group critical patients were brought across the tubular footbridge to receive medical care from the bentusi side.

As time went by, operatives, technicians and other supporters from the hiigaran-vaygr side helped out bringing things and low priority patients from the ship along with equipment.

"Wheeeeeeewwww Looks like I did it again - Mission: Accomplished!", Deena complimented to herself while waving a large flat data pad like a fan to cool herself down and continued to listen to the music coming from the side of her headset – despite the actually chaotic procedure on the logistics side.

Other operatives wondered about her strange dancing and air guitar movements as they went past her. Those who knew her knew that she was most likely doing a victory dance again albeit actually still being on duty.

Shortly after her short awkward movements, other exhausted logistics operatives met up with her to report in and receive new orders, but she only waved at them, showing that she did not have any other tasks for them. Having luck, they could finally take a break and departed from her.

The bubbly logistics officer checked the watch upon her wrist, "Mmhhmm, everybody running late or what? What takin' them so long?", she asked herself and checked the data pad again. Obviously, Deena was up to something again.

"Deeeeenaaaaaa!", a familiar voice yelled from far behind.  
"Oh?"

Noticing the voice, Deena finally spotted one of persons she expected – Her twin sister, Fenna. The blond 'version' of Deena wore a new clean technical operative schemed in khaki colors with rolled-up sleeves, a ponytail and the obligatory radio unit upon her left shoulder. A single sweat pearl appeared upon the side of Deena's head; _Fenna was a bit too earlier… uh oh_.  
Fenna made big angry steps as she approached Deena, "I should've known it was you again!", she yelled at her.

"Ha – hey, there, my sister. So, like, err, how's life?", she replied with a dodgy attempt of changing the inevitable topic already.  
"Don't come to me with that crap! I know it was your idea of faking Orelis' call across the whole damn ship, Deena!"

Once again, Deena pulled a humorous prank on her sister. There was deeper sense about it though. Fenna now stood face-to-face with her.

"ORELIS is going to KILL ME when he figures out where I've been! I was supposed to be on duty at the bridge and you made me go from one corner of the ship to another! I even had to go through DECK FIVE! The stunk-up deck was proof that you were behind all of this!"

"Now, now, Fenny, you should have actually been awake **a lot earlier** for duty, eh?", Deena parried her with words. She did not even know if it was true but when her sister paused and retreated her head, she thanked the gods, "Oohhh… you really were still asleep?! whew"  
"Da... SHUT UP! It was a stressful… I had to get some… oh, frell with it!"

Deena still had the masterplan in mind. For sure, Fenna was way too exhausted back then after the ship was free from terror and it also seemed that she did not have the chance to talk to _him_. _This is going to be excellent_…

"Umm, Denna, why are you giggling?!"  
"Heh-heh- uuh, nothin'. I was just thinking about **something**."

"And what is that noise coming from your headset?! Is that music?!"  
"Yeah, in fact it is, Fenna! Some 'Metal Heavy' music – from some weird turanic group called 'Slipknawt' - I found it in that taiidan interceptor when I browsed through it someday ago. I had a great talk with our taiidan-backslash-turanic prisoners at the brig and they told me about a lot of stuff. They're great people, Fenna – You've got to meet them some time!"

"…W-what…?! Are… Are you kidding me?! Those frakkers tried to kill us and you -?!", Fenna argued back at Deena but then paused, only to lay her hands upon her forehead.  
"They're fine people, hey, hold this for me will you", Deena replied to her and handed her officer's jacket to Fenna for an unknown reason – her forearms now visible.

"What's this about?"

Deena quietly fiddled with one of the sealed containers until she figured how to open it. After removing its cap, both looked inside and spotted several things. Curious as Deena was, she lowered her arm inside of the container – then suddenly pulled her arm out as it was covered by a dark green substance riddled with many disgusting biomechanical tissues.

"Oh my gods! **B-b…Beast fluid**! AAhhhhhzzhhzzz!", Deena shouted at Fenna and began to make sick sounds as if she was being assimilated along with her arm doing uncontrollable awkward movements.

Fenna jumped and shriek, "OH MY GODS! HELP – SOMEBODY HELP!"

"UUUhhhzhhzhzahhaaa….hahahahahahaha--ahahahahhaa snorts with laughter! Nothing happened, hi-hi. No worries, Fenna-chan. This "Beast" liquid is quite some valuable stuff!", Deena explained as she wiped her arm with a towel – obviously, she planned this prank too, "Really great stuff. From cleaning rusted parts to some other crazy stuff you can do with it. I knew this stuff was in here since all of these crates had that stuff inside. It's harmless and dead – so no worries, ha!"

Fenna remained paralyzed with her mouth open. The blond sibling nearly had a heart attack. She was afraid of practically everything. After cleaning her arm, Deena grabbed the jacket from her and put it on again.

"Hello…", another voice called from behind.  
The mirroring sisters turned themselves around at the same time and recognized a small group of familiar faces. Hailynn, Aira, Orelis and other operatives arrived at the main airlock segment of the deck – _finally_. Fenna shrieked inwardly as she spotted them.

"Helmswoman -", Orelis suddenly asked, "Can you tell me where the frell you've been?"

The pale Fenna tried to find words; her view constantly shifting back and forth between Deena and Orelis.

"Let's not worry about that, Orelis. We made it to the Bentusi", Hailynn said to him and limped another step further, "Chief Deena, were there any complications… _losses_?"

The bubbly officer suddenly raised a thumb-up at her with a victoriously vicious smile, "Nothing at all, my Krin'sa! All our critical peeps are A-Okay and are being treated by the bentusi right now. If I may say, it's good to see yah, ma'am! Thought you were a goner…"

"Same here…", the hiigaran replied quietly and looked upon wrecked self, "same here sigh."

"Thank goodness", one of the accompanying operatives mentioned.  
"Aye."

"Hailynn! You here, too?!", another voice called.  
"Huh?"

The number of coincidental appearances seemed to never end. It was Velle, a support operative helping others out. Shortly departing from the others, the slightly velvet-haired amaji immediately jogged over to the injured hiigaran and hugged her.

Probably another overzealous operative just happy to the heroic commander still alive many assumed... but Deena sensed something else – more than what meets the eye. Unknown for others, Deena noticed the long hug and that specific sign of relief as she held Hailynn in arms… or was it just satisfactory her Velle that Hailynn was alive.

Deena eyes suddenly looked beyond Fenna's shoulder and spotted a specific person among the groups of injured people about to make their way across the wide tubular footbridge. _Ooow, this is going to be excellent!_, her eyes sparkled.

Taking a deep breath, Deena suddenly yelled, "Ooooh, Hi there…!", catching all attention of her surroundings, "**RAY**! Over heeeere, big guy!"

Fenna's eyes widened as Ray slowly approached the group the side. While not seriously injured as Hailynn, the swarthy vaygr did show signs of fracturing injuries he sustained, most likely when his fighter was rendered immobile after the failed bomb run operation. He did show sign of injury nonetheless and still wore his heavy black-red flight suit and masked that covered his most of his face – some of the operatives actually wondered if he was going hop on a fighter just here and now.  
Ray did not react to Fenna but focused his view upon the wrecked hiigaran.

"Lord of Command."  
"Warrior Ray'. How are your injuries?"  
"They are irrelevant, my lord of command. I am ready. Do you wish to perform my execution now?"

Nearly everybody who heard his shockingly direct question, but Hailynn, suddenly threw startled and astonished faces.

"No!", Aira suddenly shouted surprisingly.  
Now it was Aira who surprised everybody. The frail adolescent girl rushed over towards his side and embraced his hip. For a short moment, Aira began speak in her kadeshi language with galactic-common gibberish again.

Hailynn looked up at him after Aira ended her plea to her, "Oh, I will execute you, warrior", her pause once again scared everybody, "…Some day… Ray… Some day…"  
"When?"

"It is I who will decide when, Ray. Until then, you will serve under my command as everybody else."

Knowing he should actually keep out of this, Orelis suddenly excused himself for budding and pulled Hailynn to the side in order to speak with her privately, "Whoa – wait, Hailey. I know this is none of my business… but you're not going to kill him."

"You heard right, Orelis. I'll kill him… _some day_…", she replied to him with a firm voice and made a long pause.

Suddenly… and without warning, both corners of their mouths slowly began to move upwards... further… until they both formed a smile. Separate others dropped their shoulders – They all were fooled by Hailynn.

"Naw… nooo… don't tell me… you…"

Hailynn nodded.

Orelis rubbed his forehead, "You goddamn… 1:0 for you, Hailey. Pah, whose counting actually."

By now, everybody understood that Hailynn fooled Ray who was assured that Hailynn would execute him as that was the vaygr way considering his defection from the crusade to the amaji kiith. However, nobody expected such a hideous stalemate by Hailynn that even caught Ray offguard.

Hailynn made sure that she was indeed going to execute him some day – but as she said, it was going to be… _some day_.

"Lord of Command. I must protest."

"I don't care. Right now, Ray, I wish you to carry on with your life for now. _I will pick the day, don't worry_", unfortunately, Hailynn could no longer hold her seriousness – her face revealed a confessing smile.

"B-but…", Ray's eyes pinched slightly together, "By… your… command."

Deena smiled. _Here. We. Go…_ and took a subtle step backwards as if she knew a verbal barrage was about to occur. Even Aira cowered away from him, back to Hailynn's left side – something was about to happen.

"'By your command – Lord of command' – **YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME, RAY**!", Fenna suddenly burst.

"You… goddamn VAYGR punk! What is this?! Acting like I'm air?! What was all that shit about BACK THEN?!", the amaji pilot yelled at him with hasted words and as she spoke, she periodically knocked the lower side of her fist against the chest of his suit, "You can't be serious, only worrying about when Hailynn can kill you?! We struggled our asses through warzones and so much slaughtering – Frakk, I brought this ship across a friggin' war and back just to get to you to safety a-and… and…", tears filled Fenna's eyes, "… **and I EVEN CONFESSED MY LOVE TO YOU!** – "

"I… had to do what I was destined to, Fenna of Amaj. I am expendable."  
"**DON'T GIVE ME THAT 'EXPENDABLE' SHIT!!**", she barked at him.

To the surprise of everybody who noticed the shouting, Fenna had the upper hand against his tall vaygr he could not withstand verbally.

Suddenly, Orelis who stood in the background of this argument with the other slapped the side of his forehead – but it was not only about this argument, it was about who he just recognized,

"Oh frakk, no, good gracious gods - **aww no!**"

As if bad timing never gave a break. Orelis' eyes crossed path with a much feared person who was within the group of injured people who rested upon beds, transported by supporting operatives, medical associates and Doctor Jonas.

"Heyah, Orelis, how's – Whaaaaaaaaahhhht?! RAY?! That you?!", the strongly accented of a familiar woman yelled now.  
Everybody immediately spotted the swarthy green-eyed woman – the manaani tempest.

"Holy frakk, Hailynn… It's Kaydaana…"

"At least she's alive…"

Despite being mummified by bandages like Hailynn along with a head-bandage over the forehead, Kaydaana's transport featured infusions – but that did not stop the manaani from getting up from the bed with her patient overalls.

"I'm talkin' to yah, Ray!", Kaydaana tried to approach them but was held back by Dr. Jonas and two other associates – actually risking their lives, jokingly. Unfortunately, Kaydaana was not able to get closer.  
"Waaah! Git off meh, fools!", the four fought with each other; three of them trying to tackle the injured manaani woman who still revealed inner strengths. Knowing how such person, especially **such** person, could unleash strengths, Jonas immediately called for others to bring a treatment to calm her down.

"All this time sobs through…", Fenna sniffed many times as emotions for Ray went through her," I've been through so much crap in my life! I've been fooled left and right – even by my own sister! And I even made a fool out of myself confessing my love to a VAYGR! We all – even I – threw ourselves back into fire just one more time get the man back who we gained trust to! I… I-I should have known I was only fooling myself…! sobs"

"Fenna…", his baritone voice replied but he did not know what to say other than staring down upon the whimsy young amaji woman who suddenly looked up at him with a face full of tears.

"If you want – GO AHEAD, expend your life! Get executed! Do whatever! I guess my love confession can't convince you – oh so heroic vaygr…!", Fenna's words were so harsh that she even burst into more tears and ran off; not to mention how embarrassing it was for her.

Everybody looked back at the tall vaygr who stood there. There was a slight moment where everybody thought that he did not care, but wait… there was reaction of Ray that everybody oversaw. His arms, they were up – but why?

**He did care!**…

The common sense however told the others that he simply **was** a vaygr warrior. While his devotion to the 'vaygr way' was frightening and insulting for Fenna, her feelings made her forget that there was no way who could know how he was to respond, especially to a woman's feeling – not even the emotional considerate amaji.

Deena suddenly approached Ray's side and… **slap!**

Everybody foresaw the incoming slapping reaction from Deena, but her palm landed upon a totally different spot of Ray rather than his face – she could not reach it anyways. The momentum of her swing left his buttock, "Well – Get-bloody-going, silly boy! You might be able to catch up on her."

Awkward views stared upon the two… but surprisingly, Ray suddenly made a heavy step. Although he was injured, his next few limping steps gained slightly on speed. It was astonishing. Ray was affected by Fenna's words after all and although being lost in a world of emotions, it was Deena who gave him the _love tap_ to chase the girl.

After observing everything that happened between Fenna and Ray, the tackling fight with Kaydaana against the others ended abruptly at the same moment another medical associate finally brought an injection gun filled with the sedating fluid that could even calm a wild orthog bull. Jonas wove at the associate to wait a moment. The manaani was simply suddenly mellow.

Quietly and without any resistance, Kaydaana quietly climbed upon the transport bed again – much to the surprise of the associates and Dr. Jonas who shrugged at them. However, Kaydaana noticed that the doctor spotted Hailynn and sensed that he was insisting to talk to her.

Just before he was able to walk off, Kaydaana's grip pulled his medical coat, wanting him to come closer and so she could whisper him something into his ears:

"_Yer still underlying the physicians confiden..confi- discretion, dawk… No-word-to-Hailynn-about-'it'…_"

Jonas lifted his head with a troubled face.  
She dropped her head and back gently upon the bed's pillow and arrogantly wove the medical associates to push her further along with the group for bentusi medical care, lastly shouting, "- I'm outta here – and it's good to see yah alive, _old lady_…!"

Hailynn quietly wove back and felt a stinging pain upon her hip. While Aira was on the left side, it was Velle's arm that tightened slightly upon her waist, unintentionally causing much pain on that side.  
Obviously, these 'love woes' between Fenna and Ray affected Velle as well.

_Ha! I knew you were lookin' for somebody…!_, the chief logistics officer thought. Nothing could elude Deena's eyes as she was the only one who noticed Velle's arm around Hailynn's hip – and it was not alike Aira's fretful hug. it was totally clear: Velle had a crush on Hailynn!  
_Oww, the joy. Even more gossip to spread_!

The head of the chief logistics officer began to rock slightly as it heard the music still banging from the side of her ear.

"Wow…", Orelis commented as he and the others still stared behind the vaygr who disappeared around the corner, "sigh Alright. That's it. Hailynn, I'm gone. I've got to eat something. Who's coming with me?"

He was fed up with all that was happening. Other operatives raised their hands.

Assured that nobody noticed her closeness to Hailynn, Velle silently slipped her arm away from her and wove her goodbye silently. Hailynn quietly wove back, "All right, Orelis. The bentusi ambassador is still awaiting me."

"Yes, Commander Hailynn", Doctor Jonas noticed to her as he approached them, "I would like to speak to him too about Aira's condition. I would like to speak with you, too, in person… but we will have to delay that."  
"…Is it an important matter you wish to speak with me about?"

Jonas short-lived troubling pause was noticeable, "N-no. We should take care of Aira first. The girl has priority. Let us not delay that. And while we are at it, you should actually attain bentusi medical as well."

"First things first."

"Very well... We better get going."

Bidding farewell to the others, Hailynn, the doctor and Aira departed from Deena and the separate few operatives remaining. Walking down the lane, the group soon disappeared among the numbers of people heading along the tubular biomechanical footbridge.

"Well, that was something, huh?", somebody commented.  
"Yeah – oohhhohoh yeah."

After the long walk through the living tubular footbridge, Aira, her two accompanying friends and separate groups of amaji crewmen bypassed the final segment of the biomechanical footbridge filled with cold, harmless decontaminating antibacterial gases before entering the crossing entry point to the trading hub. Despite the calamity within the girl's mind, it was the first appearance of the bentusi's inner world that soothed her pain as the vast region reflected upon her velvet eyes. The chimes of bentusi song continuously surrounded her.

So many lights of many colors sparked and shimmered throughout the farthest reach of her view; even the countless panels with moving indistinguishable digital symbols of foreign stock exchanges left her in astonishment. Looking upon the floor, the girl noticed that she still walked around with dirty bare feet as she felt coldness and vibrations emitting from it.

The crossing itself was the true entry point into this inner world. Taking rear views to both sides, one could spot other ships of various sizes parked upon the port, either quietly slumbering or departing. While this vast breathtaking view would stun an observer with awe, the clatter of echoing foreign voices, announcements and other things would soon catch one's attention, leading eye and ear to other side revealing the separately humongous decks of trading hubs. Accompanying the eye-catching shimmering colors, the sound of calm foreign music would harmonize with one's mind, inviting any being into its world; its air free from the terrors of the past.

Alike Aira, Hailynn and the other amaji people remained startled as their eyes met with the inner world. The docking ports and huge trading hubs of the Bentusi Harborship were thriving with myriads of cultures from across the entire galaxy. So many groups of races, factions, nations and bloodlines from beyond the Hiigaran Empire– far too many for both eyes and ears to distinguish from afar; traders, entrepreneurs, miners, scientists, diplomats… the list went on – none of amaji dared to wonder of what technologies or riches they traded with… and this was _just_ the zone of carbon-based beings who required oxygen-nitrogen atmospheres.

Ironically, the orbit of Amaji Prime also possessed such thriving trade ships docked at the Hub among the idling colony fleet, if not one of the most lucrative ones in hiigaran space – but none of these could ever reach the capacity of what the Bentusi Enclave had offered; the Bentusi surpassed all cultures of the galaxy considering ultimate trade. Objects of all kinds hovered in harmony with the gravity-antigravity fields throughout the region. The ship's inner world was full of structures raging both from the floor and the metallic sky like hollow stalagmites and stalactites made by technological hands.

Despite all the beauties and amazement, Hailynn merely held her breath for a much different reason; pirates… pirates everywhere! Even distinct ones of turanic heritage… The wrecked hiigaran staggered as her eyes recognized several small groups of them throughout the active vicinity. Inner fears merely clenched her throat. It did not even take a split second until imminent readiness flew through her veins.

Unfortunately, due to her physical status, Hailynn remained paralyzed. Noticing her unease, Dr. Jonas shortly laid his hand upon her shoulder, gently attempting to calm her down. Jonas knew that what she was thinking of.

Having the Bentusi Enclave attempting spread neutrality through peaceful trade throughout the galaxy, their ships also acted as terrain of neutrality for diplomatic negotiations. Evoking peace among conflicting cultures belonged to one of their many their virtues. The welcoming hand of the Bentusi however still occasionally welcomed hostile factions who for instance may have caused piracy but still have done some sort of _good deeds_.

Hailynn slowly calmed down again as she began to understand that neither she nor her fellow crewmen were in danger. The entire Harborship was a demilitarized zone; hostile interactions and weapons of any kind were strictly prohibited – and the Bentusi had no regards for any being that would void their peaceful will.

Noticing movement at the edge of her right eye, she spotted a pair of peacekeeping sentries passing along the sides of the traders. Surprisingly, the bentusi peacekeepers differed much among each other. Hailynn was not able distinguish any further detail with her right eye but noticed that separate patrolling groups consisted of unarmed humanoids and so-called 'ambassador' entities in encounter suits; biomechanical androids , in short 'bioroids', of the Bentusi carrying heavy silvery mantles. Clearly, none of the pirates would want to mess with these superior beings.

Nonetheless, it was that cold shiver down Hailynn's spine that still kept her full of awareness.

"_Naji_?"

Aira's fragile voice awoke the hiigaran woman from her mistrust. To Hailynn's surprise, it was Aira who made the first few steps ahead, wanting to approach this inner beauty of technology, trade and prospering peace. The kadeshi girl made a short notice with her hand, showing that the bentusi ambassador and three medical entities awaited them. The tall bioroid wearing the bulky encounter suit patiently waited for their approach.

Hailynn took a deep breath but had to smile shortly as she looked upon the kadeshi youth staring back at her. It only had been three months ago since the _Vjel-Amaj_ was upon this bentusi vessel before and for some silly reason, it was Hailynn who had fret and forgetfulness instead of Aira. Reaching out, Hailynn's hand met Aira's who welcomed her and the doctor to approach the bentusi ambassador.

**- Filthy -**

_Nervous soft pats upon her shoulder catches her attention as she pauses from speaking into her shoulder-mounted transceiver._  
"Huh?"  
"Serviceman J.G. Rico re-reporting back for duty, Ch-Chief Deena", a young and nervous male operative stuttered to her as he saluted.  
"Ahh, Rico – Heya, where've you been?!", Deena joyfully remarked after turning around.

Like many operatives of the crew, Rico was a young enlisted operative with the lowest rank in service of logistics - Serviceman, Junior Grade. The young man held greatest respect for every superior officer, but unfortunately, his _overactive_ respect for women always led to nervous reactions.  
Deena was still upon the thriving logistics deck relocating damaged equipment and other things.

"Umm, we've finished the list of orders, m-ma'am, just like you ordered. The other teams are taking care of relocation of scrap heap circuit... stuff. A-Anyways, one of them told me to report back to you, Chief."

"Hey there, tough guy", Deena replied and suddenly pushed his straight hand down that still saluted upon his forehead, "Call me Deena, got it?", she demanded to him friendly.

"Okay…"

The surrounding area was still active with logistic teams moving things around.

The bubbly logistics officer suddenly lifted her head and shortly spoke into her transceiver unit again, "What?! What?! You are talkin' – wait, what?!", she repeatedly said.

The voice of the person that spoke to her over the comm frequently echoed gibberish, foremost caused by chronologically overlapping replies mixing up with each other.

"Awww Should've known…"  
"What's wrong, ma'am?"

"We're already in hyperspace again - prolly surfing on a bentusi tachyon wavefront right now."  
"What? The Harborship is in hyperspace already?!", Rico asked with a surprised voice, "None of us back there heard or felt anything!"

"Yeah, we're already on our way back home. Anyways, must be one of those time lapse interferences again. I'm sure our communication guys will take care of that issue soon enough – oh well… clickclick", she commented and hooked the unit back upon her shoulder, "Gossip's gonna have to wait, eh? So, Rico, tell me, how was _it_?"

"The last days were v-very… exciting - crazy, ma'am, lots of shooting and being shot at... and -"  
"No no, Rico, I meant how it was hanging around in that logistics team I put you in. Had some fun with…?", her head approached him slightly with curiosity.

Rico rubbed his forehead. No wonder his recent team was full of female operatives, "N-nothing really to report, my Chief – err ma'am... Deena, Deena. Nevermind that, ma'am, I am here for my next task."  
"Ah, don't worry about any tasks, trainee. Relaaaax – Come with me", Deena replied and wove him to follow her.

"W-Where are we going?"  
"If I can't spread the newest gossip over comm, I'll bring it on foot – eh. Ha-ha, I mean, logistics stuff nervous waving"

"Yes, Chief. Speaking of that, I have several questions about the logistics service field."  
"I thought so. I'd love to show you the wonderful world of logistics! Go ahead, hit me!"

This woman surely was strange; the way she swung the amaji shotgun around as she walked was much of something to be worried about.

Rico asked himself at first why she still ran around with a gun, but instead, he decided to ask about something else, "Aye. I was wondering. When the _Vjel-Amaj_ engaged this operation, I've noticed that our storages lacked in nearly all fields when I consulted several inventory check-ups, ma'am."  
Reacting to his words, Deena slowly looked over to him as he followed her, "Oh… What did… you find out?"

"Nearly all fields of logistic supplies… umm… mechanical, fuelling, ordnance… Uh, yeah, how were we able to actually receive clearance and depart into deep space – especially with such low food storage levels, ma'am? I mean, even with rationing and cryo-shifts, it would only have lasted a maximum of two months, and that just barely. I'm surprised the guys of the galley haven't noticed anything. I thought amaji navy regulations did not allow a vessel to depart unless having a minimal storage of eight months in various sorts of food supply and -"

Along with Deena's shriek, the logistics officer suddenly threw herself behind him, grappling him and his mouth before any further wording left his mouth. Rico was held tightly, unable to move or say another word.

"Psssssssst! Gods… pssst!", she quickly whispered him with a very nervous smile having closed teeth, "Don't-tell-anybody-about-it! There are some duties a… logistics officer… have to take care of when in shortage of… financial capacities, mate. But not only that! It was going to be our first real adventure that could have been aborted, y'know… I had to do something - Heh-heh-heh… hoo boy… Alright, got my drift?"  
Luckily, nobody else heard his words due to the loud surrounding activity.

"mhh-hmm", he nervously nodded as he saw Deena's shotgun unintentionally held next to his head.

_Gods… What have I done to our ship_?

Deep sorrows and guilt filled Hailynn's mind when she made a short glimpse over her shoulder. She knew the ship went through serious trouble and punishment, but never had she expected the _Vjel-Amaj_ to be so battered. Ignoring the minor smoke trails emerging from the other side, damages but predominantly marks of all kinds were tattooed upon every arc; most likely caused by ion beams and violent impacts of explosions that burned upon the armor…

And yet, the vessel was still alive, quietly levitating a meter or two back and forth in random directions. Remote bentusi droids already conducted repairs and maintenance.

Returning her view to what lies ahead of her, both Hailynn and Dr. Jonas greeted the bentusi ambassador entity and the medical units behind. The patient biomechanical but sentient diplomatic servant of the bentusi stood over two meters tall. The head only revealed a single mechanical sensor.

Recognizable, the ambassador wore thick hulks of technical components upon its shoulder, carrying another set of a heavy mantle over the encounter suit that already its concealed body. Simple for any bound being, each entity reflected the technological brilliance of the bentusi. The ambassador entity also represented the voice of the combined bentusi minds.

After a short friendly introduction, the doctor bowed his head respectfully before speaking, "Ambassador. I must excuse my repeating urge, but I am afraid that Aira is in desperate need of your superior medical attention. The girl has suffered both psychological and physical injuries of which I am unable to treat due to the fact that I am a medical physician, not a… xeno… neurologist of such. The poor girl has suffered so much… I beseech you for immediate attendance."

His short glance over to Hailynn reminded her of what she had done. Ashamed of her deed, Hailynn's hand drifted across her face in disgrace. Her bandaged right hand… It was the same one that viciously slapped the girl's face. Hailynn felt the slightly numb region of palm hidden among all injuries she received thereafter. Jonas must have still had disgruntled feelings about it.

"We concur", the voice of the ambassador replied to them.  
The ambassador's head moved slightly to the side and followed the movement of the medical entity units approaching the kadeshi girl. Aira suddenly arose from the floor; an invisible alternating field carried her light body over to the medical units. For this brief moment, Jonas assumed that her micro-engrafted components spread upon her bones and body reacted to the specific field of magnetism.

The girl threw a worried face over to Hailynn, but the Hiigaran woman nodded to her, showing her that everything would be alright – She only needed to have no fears.

"Doctor…"  
"Yes, Commander?"

"I want you to follow the bentusi medics. Unless you do not require some time of rest, I would like you to stay with her. I have some things to talk about with the ambassador and therefore won't be able to be with Aira for a while. Could you...?"  
Jonas nodded several times, "I can't rest now, Hailynn. Aside to the girl, some of my patients actually have minor biological hazards they took from the derelict mothership. I must make sure we get the appropriate supplies of vaccination fluids."

"Thank you."

Aira stared at Hailynn as she quietly levitated in front of the medical unit. That long silence again… Waving at Aira, the doctor and the medical units, Hailynn bid Aira to get well soon as they departed from them, certainly heading one of the many medical facilities throughout the bentusi vessel. The hiigaran woman could only guess that several mysterious ways of surgery and medical insights awaited the girl – but it was for her good. Hailynn calmed herself further down; The girl was finally in _better_ hands.

"You seem disturbed… _Krin'sa_?", the ambassador's voice suddenly hollowed.  
Hailynn seem astound, "… H-how did you…?"; looking upon her wrecked uniform, the injured hiigaran spotted the somewhat mangled symbol that once represented the Krin'sa insignia.  
"The Bentusi endlessly endeavors to learn from cultures and their customs, Krin'sa Delixa.", the being replied. Indeed, it was a Bentusi effort to learn all about cultures' customs and structures.

"Ambassador, please. I am not worthy of any titles. Please refer to me as Hailynn."

"We shall respect your decision. Hailynn…"

A long pause occurred as both listened to the surroundings. Hailynn was shortly distracted by the views of a group that stood further away; one of the pirates recognizing her messed-up military uniform and other hints of her affiliation with the small amaji federation.

"I-I am sorry, ambassador. It… It is just that my crew and I… We have _barely_ survived atrocities throughout that expanse", her tremulous voice spoke, " As I promised, I wish to share all my knowledge and experiences with you."

"The souls of the _Vjel-Amaj_ has suffered greatly, Hailynn of Amaj. We sense… fears… confrontations with forgotten fates. Hailynn of Amaj, we, the Bentusi, wish to learn of your tales. _Would you care for a walk_ while you share your tale?"  
Another surprise; The bentusi entity even knew of common lingual expressions.

The trading decks offered much to discover as well as space for a walk. A walk would surely do her good. Knowing that her _tales_ of the frightening adventure, her crew's treatment and the flight to Amaji Prime would take much time in account, Hailynn concurred and began to take slow steps alongside with the bentusi ambassador who merely hovered ghostly over the floor.

Somewhere within the _Vjel-Amaj_, premium guest quarters. The huge room offered much space for the several screens and equipment that habituated most of the area; one could say that this area was a remote laboratory, considering the amount of gadgets around. All screens revealed foreign stock market exchanges.

""No way, Sren Pethera"", the paktu's voice sounded from the speakers of the large room; luckily free of time lapsing issues,  
""You are just hearing one of those tons of rumors bouncing across this weird ship. Somebody keeps spreading garbage, I tell you. That ol' missy is **dead**, she bit the dust – and that for good. She won't -""

"No. Mark my words", she slowly spoke word by word, - You heard right, Asad. Delixa is alive", Pethera crossed her arms as she replied with her monotone voice.

""I still have doubts about that.""

"I am not lying, CEO", she viciously replied to him, "You can be sure that I was surprised myself at first but... I assure you, that hiigaran is alive. The amaji heroine stood up from her grave."

Angrily looking away from the speakers above her, the s'jeti woman approached the side of the room revealing a displayed window of the ship's external view to the bentusi port and the sealed inner decks. Surprisingly, the woman had mixed feelings. One side of her was disgusted about her enemy's survival – but on the other side, she now had an inner conflict of serious concerns that dealt the future. Especially the future – Pethera's cunning mind discovered serious need of thought.

""A-Anyways, Pethera…"", Asad's troubled voice continued, soon to speak up with slight euphoria, ""Listen. I have information for you and the future of our corporation. You will _not_ believe it, but what deals we are about to strike with the Bentusi… Y-You've not the slightest idea... disgruntled sigh Eh, I hate to say that we have to _share… some_… of it to those worthless amaji, but 'contracts are contracts are contracts'…""

"Don't do anything yet until I am there, Asad. But there is something else."

""As you wish, Pethera. The more we let the Bentusi crave, the better… but what else you want?""  
"I must demand you something for the sake of your life", she suddenly announced.  
""What?!""

The s'jeti began to hold a very long speech of cognitions to him; cognitions of great concerns and his sake.

Several hours went by as Hailynn shared the entire story since day one of the _Vjel-Amaj_ with the bentusi entity who quietly listened to her and diverted all words to the bentusi mind. During this time as the Bentusi Harborship flew upon its tachyon wavefront, the crew of the _Vjel-Amaj_ continued their efforts of repairs and rejuvenations.

The long walk itself was merely a revelation of her guilt and miseries. During the long walk, the two bypassed several hubs and cultural meetings of distant races. It was a much informative exchange of knowledge and experience as the Bentusi also received all reports from Captain Quenton Soban in the meantime, including more insightful information of the M'randara incidents and discoveries.

Hailynn kept her words as detailed as possible, not leaving the slightest event untold; starting with the rescue of the hiigaran-vaygr refugees, the elusion from the first Needleship, the confrontation with the Vaygr 'Scay'Gra' crusade, the enigmatic comet 'Kadesha's Tear' and the derelict taiidan mothership with Shodanii to the devastating conflict of the crusade's newly formed triad against the Kadeshi Seekers.

Amidst the conversation, Hailynn learned additional astonishing facts of Shodanii, the once enslaved taiidan persona. Nearly a hundred hiigaran years ago, the imperial taiidan titan and its vast fleet had not only ventured blindly across the galaxy due to the uncontrollable powers of the so-called Singularity Core but also stumbled upon the Bentusi several times.  
As the two exchanged knowledge, it slowly became clear that the fate of the Kadeshi Seekers, their future and their accomplishments were in great danger; a fact that once again evoked Hailynn's deepest concerns; concerns so deep and dreadful that became definite nightmares that might occur in the far future.

To this point, Hailynn had to overcome the irony of being able to tell everything in such _short_ time. The bentusi ambassador also assured her of the _Vjel-Amaj_ receiving an ongoing documentation of their exchanges and knowledge.

At the end of the very long but in-depth informative walk, the two entered the huge medical facility into which Aira was brought. Biochemists and many other kinds of scientific people filled the mysterious place. A series of alien equipment hummed their distinct music whilst being used upon patients. Among other areas, one could spot smaller biological parasites being used for medical needs.

Occasionally, Hailynn discovered fellow crewmembers receiving transfusions as they made their way along the corridor. Spotting so many of them in pain and close to death struck her with cold sorrows… but somehow, she withstood bursting into tears. Soon, both reached their destination, finding several separate large chamber cells filled with thick fluids and entities and other living beings.

"My… gods…", Hailynn commented quietly as her view turned from one side of the huge area to the other.

Noticed by the familiar person, Doctor Jonas once again met up with them, "Ah, Commander, hello again", he greeted.  
The hiigaran officer only wove her hand; her astonishment kept her in place as she stared upon the chamber ahead revealing the nearly naked kadeshi girl floating amidst the thick liquids. Among the voices, sounds of pumps and other mechanical units infused unknown liquids into the chambers.

"Same reaction as mine. I was surprised myself."  
"Doctor… What… What is going on here?", she asked and made a single step forward, "I mean, I know it is helping her… but -"

"Just one of **many** things. Fluid nanobot technology, Hailynn, and along with that – several other things I have never seen in my entire life – and that said from somebody who uses foreign medical procedures. Just seeing this tells me I've barely scratched the surface of basic xeno technologies despite the years of experience."

"Remember, Hailynn, it does not matter what you are. Whether you are a living organic being or a some sort of mechanical android: We all need repairs in any means. They call it nanotechnology, we doctors call it 'medical fixing'… and although we are capable of using it, this whole ship and the Bentusi surpass all I've seen", he explained and then pulled out a thin pad revealing biological data of Aira's status, "Well, let's see. Apparently, the girl has actually caught a _cold_ of some sort from the bio-dome region of the taiidan mothership. Harmless, actually, but whatever it was, it was incubating in her. The last thing the girl needs is something messing around with her _technical_ side. From what I can say, she has been vaccinated – and that will also be something we all will have to do to avoid any possible issues in the future."

Hailynn quietly approached the chamber further.

"I have updated our casualties… unfortunately, our crew have suffered several losses of life – along with patients still with critical status. Considering Aira: I only can interpret the physical damages to a certain point – The Bentusi and all the other foreign doctors here can give us the in-depth scans. Excuse me, Hailynn -", Jonas shortly said and signaled one of the biochemists to activate the medical scanners that soon revealed Aira's inner body.

It was the first time Hailynn was truly able to see what world was beneath the girl's beautiful skins. All images revealed live holographic pictures of her entire body with breathtaking resolution. It did not disgust Hailynn at all. Quiet 'whooshes' of flowing blood cycled periodically and simultaneously through each area of the girl's body. Aira's blood however revealed differences. Though it was red, it shimmered in a much different tone. There was probably more to it, but she did not possess enough knowledge.

Biologically, the inner world of this girl did not differ from a female kushan body at all – but she already knew of this. Nonetheless, Hailynn's mind wondered shortly. The adolescent girl seemed so sure… so confident that she was not a _real_ living being… and that to such an extent of disbelief.

Confusions…

But this evidence revealed what Hailynn assumed. Thinking of the time before, Hailynn already felt pulsing life within Aira when they were close together, and as she stared upon the live-feed, the Hiigaran woman saw the girl's core slowly pulsing lifeblood throughout her body. No doubts, she was real; definitely not some sort of machine, as Jonas mentioned. Shortly noticing the lungs, Hailynn's eyes recognized that there were different curved liquids of individual colors within huge tank that surrounded her mouth region. After seeing Aira once within such tank long ago within Shodanii's chamber, Hailynn assumed these specific liquids supported the exchange of gases within her lungs. Other than that, Aira remained slumbered deeply.

Hearing a short chuckle from her side, the doctor commented, "Remarkable, huh? You should have seen how she reacted when she saw her internal body the first time. Actually, it was the constant noise of life that actually scared her. She simply could not calm down afterwards, however. Her nervous body back then even intervened with our deep scans – as if her body could develop some sort of field. But anyways, Aira concurred to receive small medical doses to calm her down. I can tell you, Hailynn, that she possesses a very overactive metabolism. That said, and with a note of warning, keep her away from alcohol and things like that. Her body is unable to handle such heavy things like ours."

Hailynn nodded and turned her view upon the screen again. But wait… there was a lot more revealed upon the biological aspects of Aira's body; the deep scans revealed mysterious networks and implants throughout her body. It was as if she had another set of organs mirrored upon her biological aspects and bone structure.

"This girl's body is fitted with **countless** implants and… things… I don't know. _Architectures_… masterpieces of xeno-technologies – Things I've never seen, as I said before. Their uses remain a mystery to me. But as we both know, your _harshfulness_ has caused great damage upon critical segments of her brain. Despite the durability of these mysterious things, Hailynn, the girl is nonetheless a very **delicate** being. However, the stressful situations we went through also left their traces upon her as well."

Hailynn's sore hands met with the cold hard shell of the chamber; her mind frequently asked herself what she had done to this girl… a single tear ran down her right cheek as her knees met the floor. The crutch simultaneously fell upon the floor.

"Commander?!"  
"I-I… I'm all right, doctor", she wove to him without looking,

"Bentusi ambassador…?"  
"What ails you, Hailynn of Amaj?", the entity responded.

"Ambassador. I am sorry. I have not told you about my harmful deed I have done to this girl – aside to what happened to the ship. I was under the influences of drugs…", Hailynn suddenly confessed to the ambassador, "I have lost my mind when Aira led us to the derelict taiidan mothership instead of the amaji homeworld as I demanded from her… and mindlessly struck the girl for the defiance. Granted, I was under the influence of drugs, but my inner angers also caused the violent reaction. I will not hide the truth, ambassador, but I am psychologically instable… I was later told, though, that a hyperjump from that position to the amaji world would have killed us due to the black hole. Th-The girl actually saved our lives in the end. I have done great harm to my people but foremost to the entity of our ship, our most trusted crewmember… my entrusted… _little sister_.  
I fear that I am no longer worth being the one entrusted to her. Not only that, ambassador, I have also violated kiithidial regulations against a superior representative of Kiith S'Jet – a deed that borders the act of high treason - and I assume I will be stripped of all honors and lastly executed. Alas… I know Aira still trusts me. She forgave me… I done so much wrong to her – physically and emotionally -and yet she gave me her salvation."  
Of course, Hailynn was not biologically but was somewhat emotionally related to Aira. Despite all, Hailynn was still threatened to be executed. There was no way out of that fate.

"We all must confess our demons as our life cycles, Hailynn of Amaj", the ambassador's deeply calm voice replied, "Every prospering being sings light. Where there is light, young soul, there is… darkness. We Bentusi know of the hiigaran mind; the mind that was once our fear thousands of generations ago."  
Her view remained staggered upon the slumbering girl as the bentusi entity continued its speech, "The Bentusi understands that the minds of bound cultures may someday be plagued by their mirroring soul. This _darkness_ is part all living souls – It is also part of you... but do not fear its existence, Hailynn of Amaj. Bound beings often misinterpret darkness… sometimes as their greatest evil. But this is not true."

Whilst listening, Hailynn's right eye lowered its focus from Aira's submerged body and met with her opposite; the reflection of Hailynn's _other_ self… the demon disguised before her.  
"Darkness dwells among the souls. Its shadow brings fear, but it is not evil. It protects the soul. Young minds however fear this darkness, for its alluring song may _misguide_ the mind to evil... and chaos. However, young soul, heed our song: Neither can exist without its opposite. Light may also allure one's mind to evil alike darkness… Light does not shape darkness – _It is the darkness that shapes the light of your souls…_"

Jonas crossed his arms as he listened to the ambassador's words and thought of philosophers' and psychologists' studies of mentalities, especially those darkly ones. There was some sort of truth to this although he did not really believed in this himself – a common trait of those amaji who are of nabaali heritage.

"I am afraid it's too late for me, ambassador", the woman replied with disgrace, "Th-The darkness has allured my mind already… I know it has -"

"Hailynn of Amaj. Fates may be sealed, destinies may be veiled – but it is the songs of the unbound that may change ones future and the flow of time. We have stumbled upon many sole beings plagued by their inner darkness… One of them, an angel of death from a living ship that ventured throughout two mirroring galaxies, hoped to change his fate despite his past that has brought death to many species. We will never forget his words… 'In the light universe, I was darkness… perhaps in the dark zone… I could be light…"

The sorrowing Hiigaran lifted her face once more but hesitated to say a word. Her inner demon only returned her glare. Maybe… just maybe… her soul needed this darkness. Before forming further thought, her view once again lifted itself towards the submerged body, "P- Please… Ambassador. Tell me, what… no… who is Aira truly?"

"Excuse my interruption, Commander", the doctor insisted to say, "She's a kadeshi girl. I know she is. Her cell structure, genes… I know she is a kadeshi… o-or?", now he also began to show sign of doubts.

"I know… but I spoke with her. She is not just a kadeshi… or an entity. Doctor, Aira was sure of the fact that she was not even a naturally born child", Hailynn firmly said him, "She has learned from the Kadeshi Seekers that she is some sort of a copy… but she is not a clone. Neither is she what we see her as – she is not some six or seventeen year old girl. According to what she told me, her body and mind exists far beyond… she's beyond several generations old! Aira is probably **older** than the Hiigaran Empire itself! I-I know it sounds crazy… frell, I know everybody would say that is 'full of nonsense'… but it is true. Aira is not a liar; she has proven it in many ways – We all have even seen it with our eyes – There is more to it. So, ambassador, please, please tell me who is this enigmatic girl we know as…Aira …"

"Ah…", the bentusi's deep voice echoed, "Very well."  
Slowly moving closer, the ambassador hovered closer until it stood just two steps behind the hiigaran woman as it spoke:  
"Long before the birth of the new hiigaran age, a far distant soul of the Bentusi had observed great turmoil and suffering within the world your kiith know as the 'Garden of Kadesh'. Amidst the turmoil, it has brought birth to a belief that endured a legacy… a journey across the galaxy. The Bentusi feared the nebula. The _Observer_, the careful unbound soul that listened, never dared to enter this shrouded world. However…"

The ambassador made a long pause, as if it also pondered about the girl's possibly distant past, "There was a confrontation – so says the memory of the Observer. A surprising attack struck upon the majestic vessel you have spoken as of 'Kadesha's Ark' amidst the border of the kadeshi nebula. When the 'Ark' fled to being its… pilgrimage, the kadeshi turmoil returned into the deep of the nebula, leaving only the remains of what they were able to perish. The observer attempted bravery and approached the nebula's edge, soon to discover bodies contained in a ruptured shell somewhere within the vast field of debris that was once part of the 'Ark'. One among all of them still revealed unknown… _activity_. A sorrowing... faint… _song_… that attracted the Observer's soul. The attraction… the song… The Observer cannot explain… its… beauty…"

Hailynn quietly turned herself around and looked upwards upon the bentusi ambassador.  
"The body was somhow…_blessed_ … by the unknown kadeshi believers that have began their pilgrimage. Although the Bentusi will never scavenge or interfered with fate, the Observer's young soul felt the song's sorrows… which lead to the Observer's endeavor of retrieving this dying unbound soul."  
Both the doctor and the hiigaran woman looked back upon the floating body within the huge fluid tank.

"Indeed, souls of amaj, this was the body of the kadeshi girl that now exist before our eyes. The Observer returned this body to the Bentusi, willing to revive this dying soul. However, the soul of this blessed being was nothing the Bentusi have confronted before… As you have said, during the time of Kiith Amaj's birth, this _song_ and was never heard again– until you have returned during this cycle", after a short pause, the ambassador called upon them, "Jonas of Amaj, Hailynn of Amaj…"  
The views of the two returned once again to the ambassador entity.

"Ever since her return to us again, the Bentusi have sensed that her lost soul has once again revealed its song. The body of Aira… is not a clone. An android… or bioroid, she is not – It therefore it possessed a soul echoing a song. Neither androids nor bioroids can cause what Aira's soul echoes. However, souls of amaj, she is no longer an entity due to her unraveled song.  
We are so-called as entities because we only reflect the Bentusi will as the true Bentusi are physically connected with our ship. Aira is no longer… basic. Her song excels… beyond. Returning your minds to the cycle of the Observer, both minds must understand that Aira is a _special_ but fragile being. Her soul is brittle – but during the time the observer and Bentusi endeavored to retain her body, they discovered that her soul was flawed due to death's scar.  
Her body cannot exist without a pure soul – The pure soul cannot exist without will. The Bentusi refused to accept her fate of impending death… Stasis… this was the Bentusi's only way to contain her dying soul from death. Cycles of generations later, the death of the Great Bentus occurred. It was an atrocity that brought great fears into the souls of the Bentusi, leading to their final decision of refraining from this galaxy. Albeit the Great Bentus' death, his song still existed… somewhere within this galaxy… unfortunately without a _body_. It was cycles later when the Bentusi Enclave heeded the plea of the unbound _Sajuuk'Khar_ of Hiigara, Karan S'jet, to return to this galaxy – Her song revealed also the Bentus' everlasting song that would lead to its everlasting soul. As of fact, souls of amaj, the Second Core that existed within the Trinity Core of the awoken _Sajuuk_ revealed that the Bentus' soul still existed. The Enclave ventured to this galaxy. Karan has united her song with ours to return the soul of the Bentus to our will. The Bentusi Enclave is thankful for her deed as we were able to once again endure our virtues across the galaxy despite our 'limited' numbers."

Hailynn suddenly fought to stand up. It took her several attempts without the help from Jonas she denied. Her hasted movement led to the fact that she also came to the same conclusion as his. Looking with a frantic eye, Hailynn stared upon the bentusi entity as it spoke further, "When the Enclave returned to this galaxy, we discovered further truth that the Great Bentus was not only the death our souls were to sorrow for.  
During the galactic war between valiant souls of Hiigara and the united Vaygr Crusade of Makaan, the Great Bentus was the last of the Bentusi and therefore the sole essence who responded to the distress of the _Observer_ but unfortunately was too late to aid the distress… only to discover her dead _husk_ somewhere within the Balcora Cluster. The Vaygr revealed no mercy – To the Bentus' misfortune, the Vaygr also forced the Bentus to seclude itself amidst the edge of the dangerous black hole, Balcora Cluster."

The doctor knew that was not all of it.

"The Bentusi Enclave possessed the remains of sorrows; that of our beloved Observer… the Great Bentus… and… Aira. Beyond the birth of the Kiith Amaj and its enduring support for the Enclave, we wished to end our sorrows of the unbound beings. Thus… we gifted the Kiith Amaj with our most precious treasures…"

"The Observer…", the doctor suddenly said, "The… Great… Bentus"  
"Aira… The _Vjel-Amaj_", Hailynn concluded and shortly looked upon the floor - now it all started to make sense, "Un…Unbelievable."  
"It can't be…"

"The blood of this fragile soul", the Bentusi entity remarked, "Is blessed by the unknown. Not only is her body, mind and soul blessed, the blood that flows through her possesses hidden… forces. Once evoked, the soul of this young being may alter… time and space… fabric throughout the strings of hyperspace… perhaps… more… Souls of amaj, the Bentusi senses her blood infusing this unknown _potency_. But be warned… Her slumbering powers may shatter more than her fragile body…"  
Hailynn looked upon the slumbering self of Aira floating within the fluid tank, "The Bentusi Enclave… You have combined all into one", and as she spoke, her view wandered back and forth as she nervously settled the puzzles of her thoughts together, "You said it, ambassador – None of them could survive without its missing piece of existence! A body cannot live without a soul, a mind without a body… I-I am not sure if I understood everything correctly… but – is it true? A-Aira soul contains their souls?!"  
The mechanical sensor of the bentusi entity shrunk slightly, "Yes… but your young minds must heed the song: The _Vjel-Amaj_ holds the soul Aira, Aira's body and soul holds the will of the fallen. The observer's body is the essence of the _Vjel-Amaj_. The _Vjel-Amaj_ reflects Aira – Aira reflects the song of our lost ones and her own. But… we sense her mind endlessly endures a fragile embrace… for another fallen soul … a soul that has united with her alike the Great Bentus and the Observer."

After another long pause, the doctor seemed to have found the answer, "Hailynn… Could it be that it is that so-called Shodanii, the A.I. being? I have heard the girl mumbling her name every now and then when we brought her here."  
"If that is so… then… that would mean that Shodanii manifested… or combined… herself… somehow… with Aira."  
"Precisely, souls of amaj. This young beautiful being has been expressing the evolution of an unbound ever since the begin her existence… Shodanii, however, has evoked the true _blessing_ slumbering within her blood, her mind, her heart and soul."  
"Gods… of… Sajuuk…"

Somewhere within the logistics deck…  
During all this time, Deena and the subordinating operative have been working with the freight and other affairs of logistics.  
"Man, you've a lot of questions, Rico", Deena commented to him as she closed one of the surrounded containers she had been _sniffing_ around in.

"Sorry about that. Just never really had the chance to ask, ma'am."  
"Ahh, no worries, pal. I'm sure you'll - huh?"

Feeling the small pad stored upon the hip pouch vibrating, the vivacious logistics officer pulled it out and quietly checked why it started to bug her.

"What's that?"

"Oh, this you mean? This is something you'll be getting sooner or later. It's a data pad that acts as a sophisticated inventory tool. Very useful thing, it is! Usually informs me of important changes in logistics… Y'know, supplies, military ordnance, armaments, stocks, fuels, technological liquids and stuff like that – Yeah, and… ah-and… and… wh-w-wh-whaaaaaaaa-?!", Deena suddenly stared closer to the pad with both hands in great astonishment.

"!", the bentusi ambassador suddenly looked upwards from its side.  
"A-Ambassador, is something wrong?", the wrecked hiigaran dared to ask.

It took long moments until the ambassador returned its view down upon the two, "Souls of amaj. It seems as if your people have sold precious… _matter_ to our Bentusi Traders. **Valuable**… matter of importance to the Bentusi."

"I beg to understand, ambassador, but I am afraid that neither I nor the doctor understand what you mean?"  
Within the same moment, Hailynn's replacement comm unit rung an urgent tone.

"Excuse me, ambassador. It must be somebody from the _Vjel-Amaj_ - Delixa here"

""Hailynn? Orelis here"", the familiar voice announced, ""Sorry to bud in like this, Commander, but it's an urgent one… ""

"We're all ear here – have dangers occurred?!", she asked, assuming one of those pirates were up to something, "Pirates?!".

""Negative… C-coast is clear. But it is **way** something else … Listen. I know how much you hate those 'miner' guys of that parasite corporation that we were forced to dwell with… but they just struck a **major**... deal… with the Bentusi – and we've just received our _piece_ of it – and there is a lot more of it coming… but… I'll just cut it short and say that… we are…""

At the same time, Deena continuously stared upon the pad as she spoke to Rico, "N-no… way…", she giggled devilishly while her hands trembled.  
Rico stood paralyzed as he stared upon the woman who hunched as she stared upon the digital pad.

"Ch-Chief? I don't get it, what's going on? Did something important happen? An accident?"

"_Mah boy_…", the amaji woman suddenly said and turned her head slowly to him, "_Th-This_ is what all true logistics officers strive for… The piece of the pie for trade… ooh- ohh dear… calm down", Deena was getting far too nervous as she pat her chest several times, "Rico… You won't believe it… We're…"

""…rich… Hailynn. Rich…""

"**RICH! Z'oh my gods of Sajuuk! RIT-CH! RICH!**", Deena yelled at him and showed the billions of credits in bentusi currency that was just transferred upon the logistics' account balance… followed by another beep revealing more transfers… and if there was one thing for sure, Bentusi never make mistakes.

""** RICH**. Hailynn, you remember that day we were forced to rescue Asad and his band of frakking miners that led us through those energy fields and into the comet?! pause Yup, you guessed it, they sold whatever crap they harvested – and believe it or not, Hailey…"", Orelis' voice suddenly calmed down,""Only one word marks this shit by the name: Profit. Those goddamn miners sold those minerals and energetic clouds to the Bentusi and got **billions** for it – and our take on that piece of cake is likewise… and I'm not even talking about the piece the amaji navy will receive. I-I cannot say how crazy this sounds but… we're... rich…!""

Hailynn lowered her view slightly, "**…F-filthy… rich…**"

""But there's one more thing about Asad, Hailynn. I think you won't like it. Hang on, Kelsea will connect you with him.""  
"All… All right", a short glimpse to the doctor revealed that he was just as amazed.

After hearing the very garbled voice of Kelsea first, Hailynn listened carefully as the voice and transmission of Captain Quenton signal was clarified slightly, ""Thank you, Operative Kelsea. Commander Delixa, I must inform you that I have disturbing news considering CEO Asad.""

"C-Captain Sobaan?"

""Commander. I have had an in-depth negotiation with Kiith'Sren Pethera… As of her words: CEO Asad and his miners will soon depart with their ships from the _Vjel-Amaj_ and will not return with us. According to her words, the mining vessel and its remaining units will depart any moment too soon and dock onboard a different vessel that will drop out of the Bentusi's tachyon wavefront. I do not know where they go but apparently, I fear this will affect you… personally.""

Hailynn's right eye suddenly widened as she heard the last part of his transmission, "… N-no… no… p-please… no…"  
Emotions of all kinds suddenly struck her soul…


	23. Chapter 20 Homecoming part 3 of 6

The inner world that existed throughout the medical facility was thriving – merely resembling separate districts of a highly advanced city… and that throughout the entire vessel. The echoes of foreign languages and alien sounded periodically.  
The air that surrounded her was cool and fresh; but it did not matter, her breath remained heavy as she stared upon the event.

Standing upon one of the many open-air lookout points of the medical facility, Hailynn quietly kept her halved view focused far ahead. The bandaged right hand of the wrecked officer rested upon the railed wall at the edge until they tightened upon it. Joining her misery, Jonas' hand was gently laid upon her bruised shoulder as he discovered the source of her gloom.

The thrashed _Vjel-Amaj_ was still visible far beyond the thriving trading decks behind the transparent mass that resembled some sort of invincible glass . However, it was the smaller craft that filled her soul with great despair. Asad's heavy mining ship, the 'Hive', and the remaining harvesters latched to its hull began to rise from the dorsal exterior of the amaji cruiser. Just moments ago, Hailynn begged the Captain to stop Asad's escape; both knowing that this man was getting away with the deaths relentlessly caused on his behalf.

According to the Captain's further commenting before ending the transmission with her, neither he nor any other amaji crewman were capable of stopping the greedy miner eluding his guilt. Apparently, Pethera's kiithidial status was far superior over the voice of the Captain – or any other being of the ship… but it was the pure fact that Hailynn's word would now stand without the man of guilt who was truly responsible for many deaths due to his greed and arrogance.

Without him, Hailynn would no longer be in the position of devastating Pethera or even having the slightest chance of survival during the kiithid tribunal that is assured to happen due to the fact that this man of guilt was escaping.

The hiigaran woman suddenly bit both teeth together. Asad was far too important for Pethera – both for her and the corporation – but unfortunately, Hailynn's big mouth must have given her plan away... and now, she had absolutely **nothing in hand**. Even if the entire crew would beg for her salvation, Pethera's word of power through a kiithid tribunal for treason and disrespectfulness would be Hailynn's death – starting with dishonorable discharges… that would then end in execution.

Dr. Jonas' hand suddenly lifted as he felt a violent jolt of Hailynn's wounded hand slamming against the solid railing. As the doctor stood behind her hesitantly, he then observed the wounded hand nervously combing her hair… Hailynn fell into great despair; a reaction he had never seen from her before. The dreaded venture through the M'randara Star System may be over… but its aftermath left great scars.

During this moment, both of them observed Asad's vessel hovering over and docking upon 

unknown vessel not far from the area of the _Vjel-Amaj_. As it all occurred, it became clear that Pethera must have rushed this decision. Jonas did not know much about Asad, but he knew that he had caused much trouble for the crew. Forcing his view away from Asad's ship after it disappeared upon the unknown vessel, Jonas noticed that Hailynn was at the edge of breaking down. He had greatest sorrows for the bruised woman who nearly lost her precious life… and now it was clear that she was _destined to die_. Even if the Kiith Amaj were to stand for her, the S'jet and its kiith supremacy had little regards for those repelling the kiithid laws and will.

"Comman… Hailynn…", he suddenly said to her, "I… I think we should bring you inside and have you prepared for the major surgery you will need to undergo once we are back upon 'Providence'.  
I wish to remove the depleted nanobot-units from your system and replace them with the superior ones the Bentusi have developed. I am also sure that the medical entities and capabilities of the Bentusi can repair most of your bone and tissue fractures. Please. Your body has undergone so much damage and stress… I'm sorry to bring this up, but among all atrocities we've gone through – what your precious body has gone through is… devastating. Please, if you want to live further -"

The lively noise of the trading decks never ended… and for some reason, Hailynn felt envy, "Doctor… what sense will it make to save my life? I'm as good as dead once I set feet on 'Providence'. H-How will I ever…?"

"I must apologize, Hailynn, but my priority is to save and maintain lives of _here and now_. For the sake of Aira, Hailynn – Let me save your life before you lose it… too early."

"I-I don't have any desire to give Pethera that **last note of victory**, Doctor! It doesn't make sense… I won't let her enjoy the last glory… Doctor…", she suddenly barked at him.

Jonas already sensed what she was asking for as she lowered her view, but he refused her _request_ by laying his hand once again upon her shoulder. Commencing suicide or begging for euthanasia would be the worst for us all, Hailynn, his silence replied, For the sake of Aira... don't…

The glance over her shoulder was short but full of deep concerns. Quietly concurring, the defeated Hiigaran woman slowly turned herself away from the railing as the unknown vessel harboring Asad's mining ships departed from the inner port of the Bentusi Harborship and begun to hover its way to the opening.

Once entering the currents of the tachyon wavefront flowing between the Bentusi vessel's massive structures, the ship soon neutralized the field of energy surrounding its mass, forcing it to vanish and emerge back into normal space in an instant. Though a rough measure, it was the simplest procedure of dropping out of hyperspace and is usually executed when individuals wish to drop off the travelling route once near a desired location in normal space.



Surprisingly, Jonas did not find a single tear in her eye, yet the crushing weight of defeat was sensible. As both approached the Bentusi ambassador, the biomechanical entity turned around and led them back into the interior of the huge facility.

Somewhere else, within a specific crew quarters deep within the _Vjel-Amaj_.

The room was darkened as two beings stood afar from each other. The young amaji woman suddenly turned away; her face full of tears and agony, "'…W-w-weak'… you call me 'weak'? sob"

Ray unfortunately spoke his thoughts about the amaji woman who was led by her emotions. The long conversation they had was very devastating for her feelings. More likely, it was hours long of an argument between the two – usually having Ray being quiet or short of words most of the time while Fenna expressed her thoughts _emotionally_. The tall Vaygr showed no regret for his words that insulted her deeply.

"Fenna of Amaj. I am Vaygr. You are Amaji… I am a warrior. I cannot serve you as -"  
Fenna froze for a single moment while untangling her chignon, "S-serve me?! Is this some sort of joke?! You think I want to be your some sort of 'Lord of Command' crap?! I don't care about that! It doesn't matter what we are, RAY!", she suddenly yelled and approached him,  
"I can't believe I am still standing her trying to make it clear to you, but you know what… you _really are_ Vaygr: Dumb and tall… thinking only about killing and floating in space for nothing! But let's see it your way, I may be weak – worth a dren of willpower… a good-for-nothing pilot… frightened by these… these frakking noises that keep occurring like now - scaring the frell out of me every second... but that's me, VAYGR… I am an AMAJI… weak… if that is how you depict us…"

"I am a warrior. I was born in space. I will die in space. Fate never intended to grant me what you desire, Amaji. My future will remain unknown once this vessel returns to your homeworld… I cannot live with the _shame_. Else… I am sure the Amaji will not spare me. I -"

"NO! STOP SAYING SUCH THINGS!"

Knowing that Ray was about to list all of those devastating, outright pessimistic things he shared with her about his past and his possible future again, Fenna instinctively hurled herself ahead, wrapping both of her arms around the his cold bulky waist.

Her approach was so swift that she even knocked the side of her face hardly upon his armor, "Enough… Enough about all of this… madness…", Fenna stuttered and sobbed several times, ignoring all that was said until this moment, "No, Ray… No… I am not going to let anything happen to you. I will never allow anybody to split us! I neither care what the kiith will decide nor whatever that Hailynn woman demands from you - She is just as sick and wicked like everybody else! You have no idea… how much we have in common, Ray.  
I've been alone for _so long_… I was constantly humiliated by everybody due to my ridiculous career as a lousy… freighter pilot… I admit what you see on me, Ray – I ADMIT IT… I am… 

weak… but…"

Her cheek hurt but she did not react to the pain.

"…", he did not answer.

"- Death has occurred so many times around us. You were ages in space… killing and slaughtering every living being that stood in the way of Makaan. We Amaji were always attacked by raiders, corsairs and all sorts of pirates during my time elsewhere in space working for various mining and exotic freighting corporations.  
Every time, I've been suffering tragedies – abusing - and fears of becoming one of those breeding slaves for those dreaded pirates… but I want to look forward! I won't let those other kiithid idiots try to decide on your future, Ray!", Fenna suddenly paused and lowered her nervous voice, "_L-listen, Ray… I am sure I can get us out of this… mess_, when we return to Amaj. I know I can! Ray, y-you must trust me. A n-new… start – for you… for me – the both of us… Our peace can be found on Amaji Prime! **Free of all this madness**!"

Ray looked down upon the young amaji whose face revealed trails of tear streams and faintly swollen in red due to the long argument. Fenna's dark blond hair was wild and open; the band that once formed the chignon was floating somewhere upon her head. Even her jump suit was wrinkled and slightly exposed… but she did not care, therefore was she too excited, full of sorrows and desperate thoughts.

"What do you mean? Fenna of…"

Fenna continuously pressed her peach-swollen cheek upon his heavy armor as she spoke with a soft voice, calming herself from the long argument and hoping to evoke the slightest bit of warmth from the Vaygr warrior, "A new start, Ray… I am willing **to give up my lousy career for you**! It is legislated by kiithidial laws that any being may end service and… st-start a civil life on the planet – free from all these… these… _chains_. L-let me share more about myself… I am just some useless contract pilot Hailynn happened to hire since nobody else was available at that time and moment who had basic knowledge in that ex… expertise in helm navigation.  
There's a major shortage of pilots and – bah, bet she only looked for the cheapest pilot or some crap, too. Forget about Hailynn – Let me tell you this… Long before, I was drafted during the last year of Hiigaran oppression to serve the navy through a civilian-military support provider; later forced to continue as we suddenly became a only bunch of skilled people left to… actually fly anything left floating throughout orbit after most of the Hiigaran kiithid abandoned.  
A-Anyways, I never insisted to resign from being a contract pilot long before because I had no _reason_. Deena was the only person who was there for me back then… but I begged her not to stand before me for the sake of her reputation. Life on the planet can get as lonely as it is in this freaking emptiness of space without loving anybody on your side, I tell you, and with that reputation I am still carrying with me, I had even more doubts about ever settling down on the planet again.  
Deena is only my twin sister and blood relative – It was a mere coincidence that we found each other on this ship later on… but far from that, I am tainted by my past, Ray. I'm a flawed 

person. I can't stay concentrated on a job. I break up.  
Frell, I've even crashed with a freighter against 'Providence'… and other things. I am a _living shame_ known throughout Amaji Prime", Fenna lowered her face, "The planet itself – or at least the continent our people colonized – is a lousy one. It constantly rains, damn humid – scary storms… and I still would freak out if I would end up in one again… but I tell you, Ray, it is still a peaceful planet, free of maniacal terrors of people trying to slaughter each other – I'd confront my fears, shame and disgust of those **others** just to be with you… forever! I never thought I could ever look up to a person who **means**... **s-so much to me**.  
Those repopulation doctrines of the past were frightening and I was only spared of the Hiigaran repopulation slavery due to being drafted and my given breeding grade. I can still give birth but it looks like that just was not _enough_ for them back then – It has changed since then, Ray... m-maybe we could…", the young Amaji suddenly stuttered and made a hesitant pause before speaking further, "Only after the Kiith Amaj's liberation, I was left on that space station with nowhere to go but to continue this dreaded service of rotting on the colony ship's academies as some stupid flight school teacher – a job I lost fast – instead, I slaved myself through other strenuous piloting jobs and later ended up here. But I don't care about my past anymore! I want to start a new life… a new life with you…", Fenna embrace upon his waist suddenly tightened, "Haven't you… ever noticed the other Vaygr of your clan… your kiith… who have laid their burdens and weapons to be… with the Hiigarans? Vaygr… and Hiigarans… Ray. They have ended the bloodshed for good… It is a m-miracle of love that is in all living beings – I never thought such to be possible myself… until I had seen it with my own eyes… and I have heard it from them, your Vaygr kiith only wished to seek for a homeworld to settle down… Haven't you ever wondered how life would be… not to be in battle… not to be serving some maniac 'Lord of Command' not caring about your life… Never-ever to be flying in a coffin… slaughtering everything like a grim reaper before it destroys you? Never to be a slave of death… ever again?"

Her words… So many words.  
These Amaji do talk much.

The Vaygr did not know what to say after hearing the young woman's long story. Nevertheless, for some reason, her story did affect him. Recalling moments throughout his life, Ray's mind revisited the spoils of wars and the ends of ferocious battles… with thousands of thousands of mangled, devastated frozen corpses partially entangled by the entrails of their destructed crafts…

Debris and shreds of hulks spread across his view as Makaan's serving crusades crushed every resistance upon their paths.  
Death was always besides him. He is a servant of death… and he knew death would someday end his life. Never did the Vaygr envy those who decided to bond themselves with the Hiigarans… but now, he slowly began to question himself whether fate was giving him the chance to follow a different current to his future. From all Vaygr doctrines he learned to live for, he found no real answer…

"You may have your Vaygr rituals with their nonsense… mindless ways of tribes roaming through the galaxy and on how you must live and die or how you must serve - but … Ray… We Amaji have a way of life – not death! Th-There is something to live for! For the sake of my life, let us stay together… J-Join me… Let us leave our pasts behind and start a new 

life… together… I-l love you… Ray… "

Fenna confessed her love to him once more despite all their differences.

"_War never changes… War never ends_, Fenna of…", the tall man paused, then corrected himself, "Fenna… If there is an end… then I m-must continue to serve... and find this 'end'. It is my destiny. It is… my affliction -"

The hand of the confessing amaji woman gently met with his, leading the cold rough and bulky hand upon the side of her trembling face, followed by her hand gliding upon his masked face and then gently removing it. Ray looked deeply into the blue eyes of a living being that dared to look up to him… for the first time; never expecting to be embraced by a confused, _weak_ amaji woman.

"- The… Amaji will never accept my existence despite their so-called… _embrace_. There is… no… way I can exist on a planet… for… I… am… Vaygr…"

The amaji's deepest woe faded with each spoken word, "You have found the end, Ray. And even the planet will not take us, I will", her trembling, sobbing voice slowly gained in determination, "I may be a screw-up… but I s-swear with my life… I-I will find a world for the both of us to exist upon, my love... f-for… I… am… Fenna…"

(A narrative voice speaks)  
Time flows back to historical events that happened several years before. All eyes focus on a massive colonization vessel and its armada spotted upon various orbital areas of a planet, followed by several fleets emerging from hyperspace.

As myriads of lives were lost during Vaygr Makaan's crusade into the heart of the Hiigaran Empire, a lower council segment of the Daiamid proposed a desperate measure after becoming aware of a nightmare soon to become true. While the Hiigaran Navy barely held its grounds throughout its sovereignty, the entire population suffered greatly and was in desperate need of refuge as the homeworld Hiigara was soon to be the next target.

Furthermore, with the old _Pride of Kharak_ Mothership only able to evacuate a fraction of the population, it became clear that a great deal of the outer kiithid civilian population was bound to be fall totally to Makaan's madness if nothing were to be done.

This was the cause for another drastic act of evacuation and adaption: _Deep space colonization_ – not to be confused with conventional colonization methods. Though already developed into a single prototype vessel and another massive number of similar supporting ships, it was a measure that was never really contemplated until this time and matter. The prototype vessel, being only marginally smaller than the Pride of Hiigara in scale, possessed 

hybrid propulsion systems based on superior Progenitor technologies and Hiigaran engineering.

While the Trinity Cores were the only true successors of superior Far-Jumping capabilities, such deep space colonization vessel such as this Progenitor-Hiigaran hybrid prototype was capable of crossing long distances beyond Short-Jump boundaries whilst supporting a wavefront capable of carrying a vast number of accompanying naval fleets but also accompanied structures, modules and segments – regardless of mass to a certain point.

Slight hopes evolved from the plans as such devoted remote colonization would allow colonists to prosper elsewhere far away from Hiigaran's upcoming terrors in safety while supporting the naval fleets from the new strategic position.

However, already sensing the spoils of this war, the Hiigaran Empire also needed to ensure a stable birth rate as this war already caused death rates to excel beyond expectations. The Daiamid forged and endorsed **controversial** doctrines of constraining repopulation and breeding regulations to ensure future developments and manpower for Hiigara should this war continue.

Having not much of a choice, kiithid of all kinds followed the Daiamid's declarations and conducted the transfer of their civilian population onto the prototype deep space colonization vessel. Able to support life and carry its population, structures, modules and fleets safely throughout the tracts of hyperspace, the kiithid and its population were soon on its way to a distant prospected star system; light-years away from Hiigara and its later blockade by the Vaygr.

This superior colonization vessel was christened as _Khar Hren-Vossat San Amaj_, historically named after a kharakian nation that searched and found land to prosper upon and later offer refuge to those in need during centuries of wars.

Knowing that the Vaygr crusade may discover the deep space colonization vessel and its sisterships or its later destination, the Hiigaran Navy aside of the Daiamid has endorsed a military doctrinal operation as a measure to support Karan S'Jet's fleet that was desperately searching for the Trinity Hyperspace Cores and also to divert a decisive fallacy upon the rear Vaygr crusades to lure them away from the prospected star system.

The deployment to the prospected system and planet was a complete success without any greater issues. Having a new massive armada operating from a much different and remote flank, fleets could now attack deeper Vaygr regions filled with strategic targets. Although this doctrinal operation proved itself as the most worthy and effective plan that indeed allured the Vaygr away from the colonized star system, it also caught the armada of Hiigaran fleets operating in those regions into nightmares of death traps – both through Vaygr and _natural_ causes.

Known phenomena throughout time and space were very active among these regions including the new Hiigaran base of naval operation. Dislocations and disruptions of all kinds interfered with communication and propulsion – the most devastating one being fields in 

Hyperspace that would tear wavefronts into separate directions leading to various points of emergence. With High Command of the colonized system loosing integrity and contact in both command and fleet structure throughout the time, fleets began to disperse everywhere among the Vaygr-controlled regions.

Though these 'misjumps' led to isolation of many individuals in such peril that even threw them even deeper into Vaygr territory, they were not defeated – simply _lost_ amidst formerly known cartographic space. These natural hinderences were soon to be used as an advantage for later Hiigaran strategies and procedures.

It was the time where such fleet commanders were forced to follow suggestions of individuals to develop new strategies for the will of survival. While in despair, the Hiigarans proved their willpower and cunning by frequently dealing surgical strikes on strategic various areas of logistics and key structures through several guerilla fleet operations inadaptable for the Vaygr. It was the efforts of these guerilla operations that lastly began to disrupt the Vaygr crusades' progress – albeit marginally, they proved themselves as true thorns in the eyes of the Vaygr.

Surviving throughout such Vaygr-controlled regions was far beyond from being simple. After heavy strikes and surprise attacks on various sorts of possible Vaygr targets, the Hiigaran units would immediately retreat and spread out blindly into hyperspace – usually natural just by the cause of hyperspace dislocation fields - in order to elude any chance of the Vaygr to counterattack or backtrack possible points of emergence. The rush of retreat also sometimes led to Hiigaran units forced to sacrifice their ships and lives for the sake of others, much to the despair of Hiigaran individuals.

Survival also meant ongoing days and months of eluding Vaygr patrols and baiters for every Hiigaran individual, including the need of raiding minor Vaygr targets, contacting individually oppressed races throughout the regions, salvaging and scavenging what was left in hulking entrails and drifting graves of destructed ships of various from previous battles - sometimes even waylaying the foreign supporters of Vaygr convoys.

Finding allied signals was not easy, for the Vaygr had mobile far-reaching listening posts everywhere. When battles were not fought, Hiigaran crewmen still had to withstand both physical and mental stress and illness alluring them into breakdowns… This sometimes also led to madness – even to distinct defections to the Vaygr or chaotic psyches that commonly led to imminent death, _friendly fire_, ghost ships and further losses to the Hiigaran guerilla fleets.

Nonetheless, single Hiigaran vessels would first continue their efforts of survival throughout hostile space, establish communication with other allied forces that have lost linkage to their previous group and then consolidate new vital plans of sabotage upon the operating Vaygr crusades.

You may have heard of such heroic units who have frequently taken command over several of these guerilla operations, such as the powerful UMESSIA-KREE Battlecruiser, the elite SAHD-MANAAN and TIIR-NABAAL segments, the small but nimble _TALON-VO_ assault 

frigate and many other heroic vessels and personas who participated for the sake of Hiigara and the population that now colonized the prospected planet, Amaji Prime.

Specifically, it was the TALON-VO that also discovered a single mysterious Vaygr transport that carried payload of a devastating warhead after obliterating its escort through a cold ambush procedure.

Considering the intercepted transmissions, it seemed as if this payload was supposed to be transported into the core systems – namely the outskirts of Hiigara – and there were a lot more of such being transported over just now. When the TALON-VO became aware of this frightening threat and shared its knowledge with others, it became clear that all units needed to return to the core systems and the ongoing theater of war – **The Siege of Hiigara**.

Despite the war actually ending elsewhere far beyond the colonization of Planet Amaji Prime and the desperate guerilla fleets, having Makaan _epic failing_ in retrieving the Trinity Cores and the Progenitor Dreadnought Sajuuk, Hiigara was yet to face the last verdict of Makaan before the warlord's ultimate death; his last order to all crusades to unite at the Siege of Planet Hiigara to deploy several of the galaxy's most feared weaponry of death: Low Orbit Atmosphere Deprivation Weapons.

These weapons were hulking warheads fitted into huge long range torpedoes that are capable of causing devastating chain reactions in atmospheric gases; an ongoing chain reaction that could even immolate an entire planet of its atmosphere into a burning barren landscape of death – whichever being would survive such devastation, outer stellar radiation and the effects of a dispersing atmosphere would eradicating that poor life in a matter of a single hour.

The will of the entire Hiigaran Empire would shatter at once should it lose its symbolic _Homeworld_. Too much was at stake… Now, it was the end time of the war to be decided throughout the orbit of the Homeworld, Hiigara, and the Angel Moon. The Sajuuk Dreadnought, reborn by the unity of the Trinity Cores and Karan S'Jet, and its armada of Hiigaran successors desperately fought against the final verdict of Makaan; his wraith executed by vast numbers of loyal Vaygr crusades willing to fight to death and deploy the weapons of mass destruction.

It was a desperate stalemate; however, as the ferocious battles took place, the Hiigaran's were slowly failing throughout these long hours… until a surprising armada appeared right into the thick of the conflict. It was the _Khar Hren-Vossat San Amaj_, the deep space colonization vessel that acted as a wavefront carrier and brought a battle-scarred armada across the regions. The protective armada of Amaji Prime was war-weary and scarred by the years of terror, but each and every one of them was determined to serve the last stand for Hiigara with their lives.

At last, the integrity of the following Vaygr crusades finally crumbled and slowly began to seize as the Sajuuk and its fleet protected the Homeworld with great effectiveness – 

however, it was the cause of the _Khar Hren-Vossat San Amaj_ near sacrifice that brought Hiigara to _final victory_.

The aftermath of this war, you ask?

The remaining crusades fled… retreated.  
Despite their near victory, Makaan's death, the resistant devotion of the Hiigarans desperately repelling the attacks and the true Sajuuk'Khar – Karan S'Jet – the Vaygr now questioned their endless crusade… soon leading to turmoil throughout their vast territories. It is unknown what truly happened… or will happen, as all crusades were now… what Hiigaran's would call… a "headless snake".

Nonetheless, with the Hiigaran Empire's major capitols left in ruins, most of the population was left with nothing. Following the fate of the youngest generation, orphaned children of the war, a vast number not to be underestimated, and people throughout the Hiigaran Empire left with nothing, were brought upon the _Khar Hren-Vossat San Amaj_ to seek a new life upon Amaji Prime – that however was still under control of the Empire's harsh breeding doctrines.

After the years long war, Hiigara and the kiithid throughout and beyond the Hiigaran Empire now faced the outcome. The _Khar Hren-Vossat San Amaj_ returned to Amaji Prime, with it the surviving fleets of the armada and its vast numbers of young civilians. However, the Progenitor vessel was ultimately forced to remain in a geosynchronous anchorage permanently from now on as the stress of severe hyperjumps and predominately its last jump back to Amaji Prime shattered the irreplaceable Progenitor conduits.

This was the also time when major repopulation and breeding regulations and doctrines excelled to their extremes, leading to severe oppressions caused by the Hiigaran Empire upon the Amaji population to rejuvenate the losses of the war. It was this time of oppression that forced individuals among kiithid of Amaji Prime to question these regulations. The rush for rebuilding the Hiigaran Navy and its population was a boarding edge to slavery. Drafts and impelling labor became common to those who dauntingly refused to attain breeding programs or whose breeding grade did not surpass their exceptional notions.

Many assumed the Hiigaran Empire still possessed great fear for a possible return of the Vaygr crusades… Indeed, the Empire was still vulnerable – many of its regions left as an open bleeding wound… and yet, the Vaygr never returned; only separate loyalists and remnants of Makaan's fallen will. Apparently, martyrs only had limited powers.

When the Amaji revolution for kiithid independence took place, it was a miracle that the conflict ended in a standoff between the nations and not in an ultimate bloodshed as the Daiamid of the Hiigaran Empire lastly accepted the Amaji will of freedom and the birth of a true kiith. The acceptance of the Kiith Amaj however brought **greater troubles**.

Now that the Kiith Amaj was born and accepted, the Daiamid declared Amaji space as true Amaji sovereignty, leading to the extraction of **all** Hiigaran kiithid; With Amaji Prime being at 

the farthest rim of the Hiigaran Empire, the extraction order was also a terrifying example to those kiithid willing to seek similar independence from the Empire...

Do not be confused, young mind, but the declaration of independence resembled a double-edged blade none could foresee. Though finally gaining freedom, Amaji Prime was now **abandoned** by Hiigara's superior navy that protected it from other dangers such as piracy.

Greater numbers of larger kiithid abandoned Amaj as well as they were disgusted of their independence, of course for the loss of their political power and breeding regulations, but also for the sake of their own existence, knowing how terrifying the existing pirates throughout Amaji space were. During this kiithid retreat from Amaji space, another soon debate took place.  
Individuals, predominately war veterans and high kiithid politicians, knew that the Kiith Amaj would definitely not survive without the 'grown-ups'.

The Amaji population, while consisting of millions bred by the repopulation doctrines – including those many lives brought from Hiigara's ruins - and willing to stand for their freedom, was blood _young_; how were these youngsters to survive alone or maintain the masses of technological equipment that was about to be left behind in orbit? How were these to learn how to survive and stand on their own feet? It was the thriving culture of these young Amaji that evoked concerns considering Hiigara's abandoning.

It was also a grotesque humor considering the Daiamid's answer when officials denounced Amaj's survival without the Navy… The Daiamid did in fact leave the ships and millions of hardware of all kinds… but recalled the valuable manpower and knowledge.  
It became clear within short time… These Amaji were in need of help, elder guidance... Guardians.

They were still of Hiigaran blood, these youngsters, regardless of the Hiigaran Empire neglecting the millions of the new Kiith Amaj. A separate few of kiithid rethought their decisions; a planet free of the Empire's regulations, free of any restrains holding them behind, an orbit full of abandoned or soon-to-be-abandoned vessels of all kinds, a crippled colony ship capable to support life and a star fleet, a planet and a star system full rich of untouched resources, exotic plants and animal life…

The list had no end – yet it was going to a serious undertaking as the pirate cartels of all kinds took note of the Hiigara's retreat. This was also the birth of Kiith Council and High Command to attain its place onboard the orbiting Laputa.

Seen as heroes who continuously fought for the right to live and the freedom of the Kiith Amaj, veterans of the Hiigaran-Vaygr who decided to stay were accepted. Though not many of them decided to stay, they all found a new home upon the planet, Amaji Prime, willing to serve the Kiith Amaj's agenda of enduring freedom, embracing those in need and protecting the planet, its people, its assets, its pride of freedom and the huge orbiting colony vessel now known as… _Providence_.  


_Providence_ prospered greatly over time. The discarded colonization modules and other segments were expanded to support further life, industrial, trade and military means. It was the creativity of the young Amaji that also brought successful innovations. Kiithid supporters, such as Kiith Nabaal and Somtaaw, brought great achievements in expanding industrial integrity and control to support the deep space mining cooperation within the other six nearby systems of the small star constellation.

Minor kiithid also found their uses; those of the Kiith Manaan including individual war veterans proved themselves as true fighter pilots to protect assets against the pirates.  
One of the greatest achievement later during the Kiith Amaj's prospering integrity was its frequent energetic aid to the returning Bentusi Enclave in various occasions that led to the assembly and transfer of the most advanced star cruiser to Amaji hands in favoring return, the _Vjel-Amaj_. The _Vjel-Amaj_, serving sometime beyond three months, has proven itself to become the Flagship of Amaji pride.

This was the final success that brought certain officials of the Hiigaran Empire in uproar… as the Kiith Amaj finally stood upon its own feet… despite with weak legs. Nonetheless, the Kiith Amaj and its proud nation still must continually face dangerous threats of outer space.

Time flows forward as _Providence_ and its orbit prospers…

(End of narration)

High orbit above Amaji Prime and somewhere deep within one of the many military segments of the massively advanced and expanded colonization vessel today known as _Providence_. Present day…

A multitude of youngsters stare at a large screen, anxiously watching a movie broadcasted by one of the many media networks through satellite. Unfortunately, right before the very climax of a breathtaking scene, the screens suddenly flashed, immediately followed by dozens of amaji cadets and operatives jeering. Just following the blackout, a breathless known cadet of the group dashed into the huge lounge.

"Zakk – Dude, what's going on here?!", somebody yelled from far behind.

"I don't care what's happening, I want to see what the frell happens further in that damn movie!", another jeered loudly and slapped his hand on his seat, "sigh Damn media wavers always cutting the damn waves when they feel like!", knowing that it was caused by the media network for some reason, "I bet you the half of my paycheck that _he was going to say he was his father, dude_!".

"Yeah right", another one suddenly smirked, "as if that bit of cash was worth to bet that. Doubt that sucker was going to say that!"



"We'll see about that as soon as I -"

Following several flashes upon the huge screen, symbols and animations of the media network suddenly appeared, followed by a orchestral music and a title revealing the words: BREAKING NEWS.

"Aww great. Silly ratings baiting… Bet you some stupid crap his happening again – just to screw our time… All right, somebody flip the channel – please!"

The breathless cadet known as Zakk wove his hands, "Guys! G-Guys!", he panted several times, "**Th-they're back**!"  
Bugged by the lights being switched on, one of the operatives rubbed his eyes, "They? Who - They? The Hiigaran Empire – back to enslave us for breeding? Or… the Somtaaw paying the Amaj a visit haha?!", he chuckled but wove at a specific young man just steps away, "No offense, Vinnie."

Right after his smirk, all attention was caught by a news reporter speaking from the screen. The image and quality, as usual, was affected by natural interferences disturbing the signal:

""Dear viewers. We apologize for the sudden interruption of our feature film program but our cooperating networks have discovered breaking news…""

"Oh please…"

"I guess this is what we get for having an entertainment media broadcaster share its broadcasting rights with a friggin' news network. Betcha we'll see commercials bumping an as -"

"**Shh- SHHH**!"

""Apparently, ladies and gentlemen, several civilian-maintained observatory stations have discovered an occurrence somewhere at the edge of Amaji Prime. Editors and network technicians are currently readying an uplink with astonishing viewing material and will soon be ready for broadcast. Until then, I will now report to you the cause of this breaking news event. Ladies and gentlemen", the reported paused shortly," A massive vessel of the Bentusi Enclave has emerged from hyperspace…""

Those who were previously bored suddenly stood up. The operative wove them once more to stay quiet.

""Our experts confirm that this is one of the three major Bentusi Harborships interacting throughout various trade routes surrounding Amaji sovereignty. We also can confirm that this is a premiering moment in history of a Bentusi Vessel emerging close to our home planet, Amaji Prime. However, ladies and gentlemen, this is not the only cause of our Breaking 

News announcement"", pausing once more, the reporter shortly raised his hand to his ear, probably listening to notification over his earplug, ""Dear viewers, we have established a direct uplink to a reporter team of the network currently stationed at observatory. Reporter Elron Dejun, can you hear me?""

At the same moment, one of cadets pointed ahead as he spotted flash-commercials showing up at the edge of the screen.

""This is Reporter Dejun of Starwave News Networks, yes, we hear you loud and clearly"", another reporter replied just before his image was revealed upon the huge screen of the lounge. Despite his image lacking more in quality and lagging slightly, he was still understandable, ""My team was currently interviewing the crew of this space observatory vessel about their thriving job when their … so-called… gravity wave sensory discovered a tacki – excuse me – a ta-tach-yon… rift at the rim of Amaji Prime's gravity well.  
Following this anomaly, a massive energy wave has occurred right after the detection – originating from the same location. The following wave was upon a specific spectrum, surely visible for the naked eye. However, it was unlikely for the citizens down on the planet to see this due to the current daytime across several time-zones. Indeed, the people of this observatory can confirm the hyperspace emergence of the Bentusi Harborship. This has occurred not long ago and we assume that the Navy of the Kiith Amaj has established diplomatic greetings to the Bentusi Enclave. And there is more…""

""Please, enlighten us, Mr. Dejun.""  
Several of the initiate youngsters bunched closer to the screen.

""Nods I apologize for the pause. The observatory crew now has live feed footage for us and is now transmitting the signal live to your broadcasting station. I will comment this astonishing footage.""

""Very well, Mr. Dejun.""

After a short interruption, the announced live feed signal appeared upon the huge screen; surely to be viewed by all citizens onboard the 'Providence' colony ship:

The image revealed the _common_ active throughout the orbit of Amaji prime. Various types of ship classes, astronauts, satellites, drones, military and civilian vessels, mining barges, freighters, orbital stations, even more heavy orbital traffic, Providence anchorage and many other sightings were revealed until the image changed its viewpoints accordingly to the observatory satellite units.

After swapping through several positions, the specific satellite linked several clear signals and focused upon the Bentusi Harborship with remarkably sharp zooms and scans filtering most of the interferences with superb efficiency.

The view of the majestic vessel was amazing as most likely all of them had never seen such a massive alien but beautiful ship with their own eyes… This was nowhere close to the other 

smaller Bentusi ships they had only seen on old footages and history chips.

"Damn… that thing his HUGE…"  
"Whoa…"  
"What is it, Vinnie?"

"G-Guys, check it out. Look! Look at what that image is focusing on."

Many of the young operatives and cadets did not get what he meant at first.

The second reporter spoke slowly, ""Ladies and gentlemen, it appears that we are not only witnessing history being written as of spotting the first approach of a Bentusi vessel to Amaji Prime. The observatory crew has discovered another smaller vessel accompanied by two Bentusi frigates and another pair of… smaller industrial transport… departing from the Harborship – the larger one was at first assumed to be either be a diplomatic or a trade ship – but apparently, they assumed wrongly. The vessel is not of Bentusi origin. Ladies and gentlemen, we are now witnessing the return…""

As the image zoomed further in, several began to recognize what Vinnie meant.

""The return of the _Vjel-Amaj_, the Flagship and Pride of the Kiith Amaji Navy!""

Many mouths fell open; all eyes widened.

""Have I understood you clearly, Mr. Dejun, that the sole cruiser _Vjel-Amaj_ has returned?""

""Confirmed… b-but… wait…"", the reporter confirmed but then spoke with hesitant words, ""Th-There is something about… it.""  
""It is already a mystery of spotting a naval vessel of the Kiith Amaji Navy departing from a Bentusi Harborship… and for those viewers who have joined us, I would like to recap that we have a breaking news event:  
A Bentusi Harborship has emerged at the rim of Amaji Prime and it seems as if the Flagship of the Kiith Amaji Navy has departed from this enigmatic vessel. For those who does not know: The Flagship _Vjel-Amaj_ is the Amaji Navy's most advanced deep space cruiser that entered service three months ago. Serving both the Navy and individual corporations of Amaj, the _Vjel-Amaj_ has served in various operations, including incidents and so-called theaters of conflicts throughout Amaji sovereignty.  
Over the last week, however, officials of the Navy have announced that the _Vjel-Amaj_ had undergone a mission, but had not reported back ever since its presumed return and deadline. The officials have not informed citizens about the cause of their mission but it has become clear that notes of concerns have developed throughout the naval authority considering the whereabouts of the _Vjel-Amaj_. Mr. Dejun - I must apologize, are you still with us?""

As the man spoke, several explanatory taglines revealed themselves along with the images.

""Not a problem. Yes, we are still live on-air with this feed.""  


""Mr. Dejun. Apparently, there seems… to be _something_ that happened with the _Vjel-Amaj. Can you explain, please?_ ""

""I… I am not sure – neither are the observatory crewmen of this vessel.""

"Good lords… l-look!", somebody pointed out on the screen.  
""It seems as if… the _Vjel-Amaj_ was involved… in serious firefights"", the reporter nervously explained, ""If I am seeing things right, there seems to be two… maybe three… sources of smoke development rising from one of its sides. Despite the lack of color, the contrast images reveal several black markings riddled all over the hull the _Vjel-Amaj_, excluding all visible damages.""

""Mr. Dejun, considering these markings, I can confirm that these were caused by high energy weaponry.""

""I beg your pardon?""

""Throughout previous reportages of ships that have confronted insurgency and turanic piracy, our reporters have stumbled upon similar markings and were told by military expects of our staff that such could only develop by powerful thermal weaponry; One of the common types used by various turanic clans are the highly focused accelerated particle beam cannons. We may speculate that the _Vjel-Amaj_ has confronted such weaponry.""

Ignoring further commentary of the reporters, everybody throughout the lounge approached each other and bunched together; many astonished, others speculating what could have happened throughout the week of disappearance.

One reason why these cadets and operatives were so surprised was the fact that they were the next young generation of civilian supporters willing to serve onboard the most advanced vessel of the Amaji Navy – However, their deployment was delayed due to the missing _Vjel-Amaj_. They all knew that thriving adventures and experiences awaited them but until now, they – and like many other groups – were forced to stay upon the station… most of the time in boredom during free time or supporting other military assets when on duty. Conversations developed instantly, sprouting even more speculations and possible surprises.

Noticing Vinnie making his way to the exit in a hurry, one of the operatives asked him, "Yo, Vinnie – where you headin'?!"

"Hey, I'm not going to squeeze my face on that darn window like some of you", he snitched, referring the group of young men and women desperately squeezing the side of their faces upon the projected three dimensional window revealing only a lousy viewing angle to the Bentusi Harborship and the _Vjel-Amaj_, "Dunno know about you guys, but I'm heading for the main Promenade Deck! Suit yourselves with the crappy images, guys, I'm heading for the real thing… I've gotta see this with _my own eyes_!"

Vinnie disappeared through the exit that shifted open, immediately followed by the cadet that rushed over to them from the beginning. After a short hesitant moment, all of them suddenly 

jumped and anxiously raced to the exit… 


	24. Chapter 20 Homecoming part 4 of 6

**- A Hero's Return… A Hero's Defeat -**

With the Vjel-Amaj and a few ships departing from Bentusi Harborship's side, the battered cruiser quietly drifted to the side before activating certain signal lights.

Bridge of the _Vjel-Amaj_

"**Auto-launch set**."

Kelsea suddenly threw a confused glance at Orelis, "S-sir? What are you talking about?"

"Ah, nothing, just so silly urge I always get after undocking. Anyways, can somebody tell me why those other two cargo freighters are dispatching from the Bentusi Harborship with us? I thought the Bentusi imposed departure-lockdown to all other ships besides ours as this is our space."

"According to their recent message - Th-They belong to us, Commander."

"What? Why that?"

"Apparently, those two automated transports contain a vast cargo load of purchased goods, equipment and modules… err… purchased by… Chief Logistics officer Dee-"

"NEVERMIND!", he barked at her but immediately threw his hand upon his face, "Sorry. Just… never-mind-about-it… If I hear that crazy girl's name ONE MORE TIME… I SWEAR…", and shook his hand with a pointing index finger – however not finding any words to end his swear.

Fenna was on duty again; surprisingly still showing sign of weariness and wearing the same clothes since the last days as if she had not really slept well at all – She quietly rubbed the side of her slightly swollen cheek. Pethera, Ray and Captain Quenton Soban were also present; all them silent as they listened to the bridge barely humming any operational cycles.

"At… At last…", Kenta's soft voice mentioned from the other side of the bridge.

Catching the attention of several listeners, many turned themselves around. Following Kenta's view, everybody immediately understood her comment. A moment of silence… A moment of relief fell upon the bridge as discovered _Providence_ and its thriving fleet surrounding the orbit of their Homeworld revealed on the main screen.

Amaji Prime's atmosphere shimmered an emerald green that reflected upon everybody's eyes. The atmosphere of this planet belong to one of the most mysterious ones. While supporting life, its natural existence also broke light to the point that made the planet shimmer in different colors depending on angle and viewpoint. Commonly, throughout daytime, the sky would reveal a bright turquoise, dusk would bring a dark violet tone… dawn a dark-to-bright blue entering the day's common color.

Its orbit was nonetheless full of trafficing ships.

"I never expect to be so… happy… W-We made it, everybody! We made it", Kenta spoke further – and just as she ended her euphoric words, a familiar voice once again surprised most of the bridge crew behind.

"Don't get too cocky", the grim bridge officer snarled, "I'll first be happy as soon as I plant my feet on that damn place."  
"Commander on deck…", somebody else sounded.

"_Aye…_", a familiar voice said from far behind.

All eyes fell upon a slightly hunched and limping Hiigaran woman accompanied by Dr. Jonas, Aaron Salico in his marine gear and the kadeshi girl in different medical clothes giving by the Bentusi and the doctor.

Hailynn still wore her wrecked clothing, having her severely messed up and stained uniform jacket upon her shoulders like a cape. There was also a significant change in Hailynn appearance, but nobody really could distinguish it. The weary Hiigaran felt old as she limped with a supportive crutch, a cast supporting her left arm and with bandages everywhere – predominately one across one of her eyes.

Pethera did not look upon her at first.

Hailynn's eyes lastly noticed dried stains farther ahead on the plated floor; the coffee stain… and dried spots of her blood that once dripped upon the floor. Immediately wanting to distract herself from those dreadful memories, she turned away and called, "S-Status?", with a hoarse tone.

"The s-ship at low operational status", Zann shortly mentioned, "The Bentusi managed to fix a lot of things but the ship is still just barely holding together, Commander. At least, I hope she'll hold together… err, I mean it – _it_. Trying to get used to that term or else Chief Brogan will scream at me again."

"Zann", Hailynn shortly notified, "You won't believe, but the ship really is a… _she_."

"Err – What? How that?", he chuckled slightly, "Not like you happened to take a look between the legs, ma'am, did you?", he chuckled once more but frowned as he looked at her again… For some reason, it seemed as if she really meant it.

"A-Anyways", though startled at first, Kelsea shook her head and spoke, "Tr-tracking loads of communication requests from all sorts of sources – over nearly all civilian and military frequencies, C-Commander Delixa..."

"Limit the requests only to high priority frequencies of _Providence_ and the Kiith Navy."

"U-understood, Commander."  
"Drop the formalities, Kelsea. Let us live this moment through as normal people."

"Commander… err, Hailey.", Orelis announced, "I think I can speak for all that we are **glad** you and the others are all right… We made it. I still can't believe it, but we made it."

The troubled-looking kadeshi girl slowly followed Hailynn and the doctor closer to the center of the bridge as Orelis straightened his uniform as he spoke further, "Nonetheless… Current status – as Zann hinted -, Commander: Our ship is only minimally operational. Despite those Bentusi drones and our Engineering clearing out most of the mediocre issues, the ship's overall status is far below a true operational status. None of them can really explain this– but this ship went through a **lot** of trouble Duh…. Aside to that, we have cleared the Bentusi Harborship and are accompanied by a pair of automated transport ships issued by Chief Deena purchases… I have **no** clue why… actually, I wish to forget about that, honestly."

Hailynn quietly stopped several steps away from him.

"But as you can see, we've made it back to Amaji Prime. Which leads me back to my phrase: I don't know what to say…"

Both of them looked at the rest of the crew that anxiously stared on the surrounding screens. No more Vaygr ships… no more gas clouds… no more of an endless deep of deadspace and the galaxy but the beautiful planet and home they sought for so many days.

"Kelsea.", Hailynn calmly called out.  
"Yes, ma'am?"

"Contact the Bentusi Harborship."  
"On the way…"

Aira ghosted a step further ahead of them but said nothing. Her strange eyes were grey now and focused on the main screen revealing the planet, but she seemed… empty-minded. Hailynn shortly turned her view, noticing Ray, the Captain and Pethera…

"Established. The Bentusi vessel is responding. You may speak."  
""This is the Bentusi. Souls of Amaj. We have returned you to your Homeworld"", an echoing voice emitted from the speakers, ""Your people awaits your souls with an open embrace.""

Hailynn upheld a long hesitant pause before gaining barely enough courage to speak, "C-Commander Hailynn Delixa here, Bentusi Harborship. I-I don't know how to… thank… you…"

""Hailynn of Amaj. It is the Bentusi who must thank the Souls of Amaj. The efforts of the Amaji have brought both riches… and wisdom to the Bentusi Enclave. The Bentusi dwells sorrows… nonetheless… Your kind and your souls have suffered great _illness_. Returning your souls to Amaj is the least the Enclave wills…""

"Commander Orelis here. I wish to apologize for all the troubles we have brought to you and the other… traders… onboard your vessel. We really hope we did not evoke any… hatred… for we have enough of that to deal with."

""It was the Enclave's intent to return the _Vjel-Amaj_ and its souls to its Homeworld. Never shall we refrain from our will. If your souls ever require aid, never refrain from summoning the Bentusi… We may be far – but we will always… listen. Alas, Souls of Amaj, the songs of peace is calling us… We must -… continue.""  
"Farewell", Orelis called out, soon to be followed by Hailynn's following response, "On behalf of the Kiith Amaj and the entire crew of the _Vjel-Amaj_, we thank you in deep reverence for your sacrificial support. We will never – ever – forget this – I promise this to the last breath of my life, I will never forget this. This is Hailynn Delixa, Commander of the _Vjel-Amaj_ bidding…farewell… May peace and pride prevail."

""Never fear fate and it future. _Your thriving souls can form fate_. Souls of Amaj, continue your enduring strive for freedom and the protection of those in need. Farewell, Souls of Amaj – Farewell... unbound… _soul of kadesh_.""

After a long drift away from the Bentusi vessel, the _Vjel-Amaj_ and the two remaining cargo transporters were left behind as the Harborship vanished with the tachyon wavefront slipping alongside its hull.

_The lost-minded Aira quietly lowered her view. The presence of the Bentusi vanished, leaving her behind with her silent mind._

Hearing several sounds of high priority, Kelsea's station received a specific request that scared her slightly, "Commanders… Communication request – High Priority. It is _Kiith Amaji High Command_ – originating from _Providence_."  
Nervous impulses disturbed numerous people.

"Ha – here they come…", Orelis snarled again.  
"Confirm the signal, Operative Kelsea – I will speak with them", Captain Quenton suddenly commanded.

"S-sir?", both Orelis and Kelsea simultaneously asked with a surprised tone.  
"Do as he orders, Kelsea", Hailynn notified to Kelsea, "No exceptions. He is still the _Captain_."

The confused operative combed the fringe of her hair before confirming the uplink, "High Command, this is the _Vjel-Amaj_ responding to your question. Confirmation codes dispatched and verified on your behalf. Captain Quenton of Kiith Soban is ready to speak with you, over."

After a short pause, a deep voice responded to her call, ""_Vjel-Amaj_. This is Commodore Yor of Amaji High Command. Captain Soban, please _report_.""

"Commodore Yor", the Captain spoke clearly, "On behalf of the crew, I must solicit High Command for forbearance. Commodore, the crew and the _Vjel-Amaj_ has endured great struggles and suffering during our rescue operation. We have uncovered greater troubles and developments throughout our traverse throughout the M'randara Star System. As of such circumstance, it is inevitable that our discoveries are to be kept confidentially, sir. With all due respect, Commodore Yor, due to the fact that our vessel is at low operational status, our ship is… _unable_… to approach _Providence_ with a higher velocity.  
Apparently, our approach may take approximately three hours until docking", he explained and shortly met his view with Hailynn, "High Command, I wish to transfer a ciphered **full report** ahead as an… raw… insight on our journey before our arrival upon _Providence_ anchorage to High Command and… possibly before the _Visarjan-drill_ and the _hearing_."  
Orelis immediately laid his hand on his face… , _Aww come on… Not a drill…_.

There was long pause until Commodore Yor of High Command responded. The man apparently wanted answers… but still concurred with the Captain's request, ""Captain Soban. Though High Command wishes to learn immediately about the cause of your current return and status, the other officials of High Command concurs with your request and awaits your report eagerly. Nonetheless, Captain, High Command is pleased of your return. I assume the civilian population of Amaj have discovered your return _likewise_.""

"…no shit…", Orelis whispered to himself as he spotted several _micro explosions_ occurring upon separate arks of the far away orbital trafficing ships… static flares launched as _celebration fireworks_.

""_Vjel-Amaj_. High Command awaits your return upon _Providence_ and will welcome you by _Visarjan Traditions_. Though it being only a week, your presence was _missed_ by many throughout Amaj. _Vjel-Amaj_, _Providence_ space port control will contact you for the appropriate docking profile. Pride… and welcome back… This is Commodore Yor of Amaji High Command. Over and out.""

The grim commanding officer shook his head again. If there was one thing Orelis hated, then it was one of those traditional things the crews of the Navy frequently had to partake when departing or boarding the renowned _Mothership_ of Amaj. Usually, such Visarjan-Drill was a sort of muster and militaristic presentation of a departing or returning crew of a naval vessel.

The entire crew would row themselves alongside the commanding officers to proudly salute the superior admiralty – then a conversation would be held between the officers and the admiralty… even with the crew's executive to ask permission to board the Mothership… Orelis shook his head again and cursed why they would not let them just dock up and finally get their well-deserved break. Most likely, it was going to be some exaggerated publicity; surely to have media reporters and cameras all around them on the far outside.

Captain Quenton quietly arranged his uniform, "Commanders, I will soon be heading to my quarters to transfer my report."

"Captain, sir?", an operative suddenly asked.  
"Yes?"

"Sir, excuse my questioning, but we are we going to continue our approach with such a slow drift to _Providence_. I mean, albeit the ship being barely operational, the ship is still able to maintain a secure cruise flight… or not… sir?"

Before the Captain answer, his view focused on Hailynn, "I suggested this pace. Operative Eliss, you must learn that the crew is under the shock of homecoming. We must… become aware of the fact that the return to the Homeworld leaves us with… _great concerns for our future_."

Hailynn had to thank the Captain once more, for she knew that his comment of delay was a slight gift to her, granting her time of thoughtfulness – but as she turned her view away from him, Hailynn rubbed her face in disgrace.

"…A… week…", somebody else mentioned, "… We were gone for seven days…?"

"No way… it had to be longer!", another logistics operative commented, still not believing the real truth, "It can't be!"

""_Providence Space Control_ contacting the _Vjel-Amaj_. D-Do you read me?!"", a female voice called over; most likely one of the various space traffic controllers calling for them.  
Linking his comm unit to the signal, Kelsea connected Orelis' unit with ease and gave him the hand signal for him to speak.  
"Commander Orelis here. We hear you loud and clearly, Space Control. Requesting a viable docking port and support for our arrival, over."

""Copy that. Transferring secured docking route to your navigational computer – and will soon be dispatching several docking support corvettes to aid your approach as requested, _Vjel-Amaj_. Your drift will take two-dash-three-five hours with the current approach. It'll be a long trip, so enjoy it. H-High Command has also ordered several security patrols to cover your return as we have discovered several civilian vessels approaching your location. Nevertheless, _Vjel-Amaj_, we are pleased to see you back in safety – and as for the staff and those… crazy… people out there – _Welcome Home_ – Space Control, over and out!""

Right at the end of the broadcast, Kelsea jumped in surprise as she discovered an emergency broadcast, "I-Incoming transmission! Urgent SOS signal -", she yelled with the sudden, "A-Amaji distress beacon!"

"What you say?!", Orelis barked from further away.

"Coming in now! Signal is originating over subspace frequencies, lag rate approximately around twelve minutes since its dispatch – somewhere within this star system… Planet XIII – outer ring…"

Hearing the emergency broadcast, the Captain immediately noticed Hailynn sudden reaction, "Commander Delixa… Do not…"

Indeed, Hailynn already had her hand holding her replacement radio communicator. It was an instinctive reaction. Surprisingly, her righteousness nearly ignored their status.

"Whoa.. Hailey… You really were…", Orelis stuttered.

Interstellar distress calls like these were common, usually having pirates trying to raid the miners or other individuals throughout the system. In response to the distress, _Providence_ would immediately divert patrols or dispatch peacekeeping units to the designated location.

"…Y-You are so frakking crazy, Hailynn…", Fenna's voice sounded from far ahead.

Her comment caught everybody's attention as she removed herself from the helm, surprisingly.

"Ensign", Orelis suddenly said to her, "I'm glad you were punctual for duty, but nobody said you were relieved of duty – so… sit back down and maintain the helm!"

Standing further ahead of them, everybody stared upon Ensign Fenna who quietly stood with her head lowered; her eyes barely visible by the fringe of her hair. Fenna's appearance was still affected by the stress of their previous adventures. The surrounding operatives of the bridge wondered and whispered to each other why she was ignoring Orelis' orders.

"Are you deaf, Ensign? I ordered you to -"

"SHUT UP!", Fenna barked at him, "I've had it with your goddamn insults!", and turned her view over to Hailynn, "And you're crazy, Hailynn! I can't believe you really insisted to have us head out to rescue those people in distress! Frakk, I know they're our guys but – for frakk's sake, **WE JUST GOT BACK HOME**!"

"ENSIGN FENNA – REIN YOUR MOUTH, WOMAN!"

"Oh, shut up! Enough of this 'Ensign this – Ensign that' shit!", the angry amaji woman yelled at them. Fenna suddenly snapped and pulled several emblems from the collar of her shirt, tossing them on the floor without any sign of respect for the symbols.

"All right, Ensign… What is this about?"  
"I said, no more 'Ensign' shit, Com-Man-Der Orelis. I'm quitting my job – right now!"  
"What?!"

The standoff between the two was getting uglier by the second.

"You heard right, man. I quit! I am no longer the frakking pilot of this freaking ship! I'm **SICK AND TIRED** of being told and screamed at like some goddamn dog! All of you! All of you on this frakking ship frequently made a fool out of me…  
All this time through! Nobody really came on the idea to actually thank me for… for… for ANYTHING! Some of you fools are forgetting that it was I who had to take over the helm of this ship!", Fenna barked once more as she detached other things from her jumpsuit along the earplug and the shoulder-mounted communication unit, "Granted, I screwed up in many occasions, I won't DENY that… but it's not like I'm some sophisticatedly trained pilot like Hailynn, or?!", after angrily shrugging with a pause whilst hearing no answer, her hands slapped upon the side of her thighs and tossed both hands openly, "Just because I wasn't able to fly a damn ship through a frakking COMET…?!  
After Hailynn got herself slapped and beaten beyond recognition – it was **I** who got us through all this trouble! Even with Hailynn yelling at me – it was still **I** who brought us through that massacre in space!"

"You are a goddamn operative in service of the Kiith Amaj, woman! How dare you act up like this, disrespectfully! I'll assume you're just a mess-up – and messed up like the rest of us, Fenna – but I won't tolerate you trying to go AWOL – so get your butt BACK on that helm or I'll have you **arrested**! Don't mess with my patience!"

"Go ahead! I'm never really was a true **MEMBER** of this crew… or FAMILY of yours…"

"Orelis…", Hailynn voice calmly spoke from behind, "Cease your words… please."  
"Wh-What ?"

"Ah, looks like at least Hailynn knows I may quit", Fenna explained with a harsh voice, "You all are forgetting that I'm a damn contract pilot! _A contract is a contract is a contract_ – and that contract only declared me to get this ship to whatever places you guys wanted to head to and to _bring this ship back to Amaji space_! Along with that contract, it is still said that I may end all terms once we return to Amaji space; anytime on my behalf – Henceforth, I am no longer in need to support your stupid commands as the so-called helmswoman of this ship!"

Everybody remained speechless. Apparently, Hailynn knew of this as she was the one who actually contracted Fenna. It was amazing how she acted up to the others, but seeing things from her side, she was in fact being shouted at and insulted for countless things – even though she was an inexperienced helmswoman right at the helm of the most advanced and sophisticated vessel in the navy.

"Fenna…", Hailynn's hoarse voice sounded, "If you want to scream at somebody, please divert your anger to… me; not to Orelis. You are right, Fenna. We all… including myself – never thanked you… This is my sole mistake… but I guess it is far too late for any apologies – as nearly all of my deeds are inexcusable. Nevertheless, I will accept your… decline."

"So… is that it, Hailynn, you're letting her go?", Orelis threw his arms up and down, "You just going to let her leave like that and let the ship drift along without anybody on the helm?"  
The bridge hummed its usual noise several times as the arguments suddenly ended. Fenna shook her head and arranged her jacket. It was already embarrassing for her how she reacted, but she no longer cared, "I've been everybody's fool long enough. I'm leaving. I'm heading to my quarters and I will be staying there until this ship has finally docked up. I don't know about all of you, but I, for my side, did my job – Ray, I want you to come with me."

Demanding Ray to follow her, Fenna made swift steps, bypassing Orelis, several stations with stunned operatives and Hailynn. Shortly stopping, Fenna made a moving head gesture towards the tall Vaygr to follow her… when suddenly…

"Corporal Salico", Hailynn's voice suddenly sounded.  
"Yes, Commander?", surprised to hear his name, Aaron straightened himself. Though at first wondering why she called for him, he assumed he was going to have to arrest Fenna for her disrespectful acts after all… but it all came differently.

"Corporal. I wish you to arrest…", Hailynn demanded with an utmost firm voice, "… Ray."  
"As you wish… wha- wait, m-ma'am?", Aaron confirmed but then suddenly stammered, "Excuse my questioning, ma'am – D-did I hear right? I am to -"  
"Arrest Ray. Arrest him and have him brought to the brig."

Nearly all eyes but those of the Vaygr, the Captain and Hailynn widened. Silence filled the bridge, followed by Fenna whose heart skipped a beat. It was a surprise that confused everybody as Hailynn requested the single marine of the bridge to arrest the Vaygr who actually supported the Amaji and his people with his life all this time through. Aaron also threw confused views upon the taller Vaygr, Orelis and the wrecked Hiigaran officer.

"…", the young marine hesitated.

"H-Hailey… Aren't you… confusing… some things here?", Orelis dared to ask and slowly approached her.  
Fenna remained paralyzed as Hailynn turned around to Ray and Fenna who stood further behind, "Ray…"

"M'lord…"

Hailynn slowly straightened her back, albeit sensing the pain, "Ray, you are under arrest and will be brought to the brig. Following kiithid regulations considering asylum-seekers in connection to _Vaygr affairs_, you are to be considered as an arrested entity due to your status until further notice. Kiithid members and advocates of the Amaji Council will attend with your case once this ship has returned to _Providence_. I am sorry, Ray, but you will remain in custody for an indefinite time upon this ship until your case is closed. Your heroic efforts for the Vaygr-Hiigaran refugees onboard and the _Vjel-Amaj_ will be taken in account… I will make sure of this… but until then, you must concur. Vaygr Ray, have you understood these terms?"

"I have foreseen this to happen. As I have thought from the very beginning: I am and will be a prisoner of war… but yes… I understand… by your command."

_Cold sweat ran down Fenna's forehead. Nervous sweat… She had to make a decision…_

"Henceforth, Corporal Salico, you are ordered to -"  
"**Frakk this**!", Fenna suddenly yelled and hastily turn around with stretched arms.

Shocking nearly everybody, the sounds of surprised voices went through the entire bridge.

"HOLY SHIT! Not-FRAKKING-again -!", Orelis yelled as he stared at a nervous gunpoint aimed towards Hailynn, "PUT THAT FRAKKING GUN DOWN!"

"Y… Y-YOU MONSTER!", Fenna shrieked at Hailynn, ignoring everybody's remarks to lower her aim, "AFTER ALL… AF-After all this c-crap I've… d-done for you…!"

The anxious amaji woman frequently threw her wild aim at everybody who dared to move a muscle before aligning it back upon the wrecked Hiigaran officer who quietly leaned upon her crutch. Several operatives ducked and cowered as her aiming swung over their heads.

Orelis' eyes crossed path with Pethera's… knowing exactly what memories he recalled – and now it was an ultimate standoff between the instable Fenna and the unarmed Hailynn Delixa.

Stupid enough, he cursed inwardly for not having confirmed everybody of returning their sidearms despite the inactive security level… He should have known…

Fenna continuously muttered towards Hailynn, "… I've had it with your… madness… Chasing wars… Killing… You and y-your frakking craves and lust for killing people… Y-You've yelled enough to me now, WOMAN, you hear me?! I am **not going to let you stand between Ray and my life – I LOVE HIM**… and I am not going to let you stand b-between…"

Fenna once again confirmed what all rumors and gossips spread throughout the crew; she was indeed an Amaji that fell in love with the tall Vaygr. The young thrilled amaji stuttered and sobbed further words whilst being at the edge of crying , yet still maintaining her vicious threatening against the Hiigaran.

The handgun, the standard issue silvery service pistol, nervously shook, emitting frequent but faint crickling sounds. Sweat made it difficult for her unease aim. Fenna stood many steps away from Hailynn and only a few away from the others… With a nervous aim like that one, many doubt she was actually going to be able to land a hit… unless the worse may happen. It was that moment again, a gunpoint upheld in the bridge – only needing a sudden reaction to have the nervous finger pull the trigger.

"…N-never… going to let you… stand between us… You… may have righteously protected the Kadeshi, Hailynn… following their crazy… legacy and stories for the sake of that kadeshi girl… but I'm not going to let you take Ray a-away from me!", tears ran down both of her cheeks; the slightly bruised side becoming more visible to her blushed face, "Your mindless… executions even killed off many of those… w-who wished to surrender… and **WANTED to join us**, Hailynn!"

Hailynn shadowed right eye suddenly raised itself into the light…

_What was Fenna talking about_?

Without warning… Aira moved forth until she unexpectedly walked before Hailynn. The girl silently put herself between the two women… but was unfortunately too small to actually cover the Fenna's anxious aim, "… w-what is this?! Don't tell me y-you want to sa-sacrifice yourself for that woman, Aira! Move… MOVE!"

Another person made a large circle around them, immediately catching the aim of Fenna's gunpoint. Another surprise that left several operatives in astonishment; As the straight and silky black haired woman with micro implants positioned herself before Aira, Pethera now quietly stood before the aim of Fenna.

"What?! You too…?! What… WHAT THE FRELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE…", Fenna made a nervous step backwards whilst aiming her gun at random targets, "R-Ray… pl-please… let us leave… this place…! PLEASE… Pl-"

Suddenly, at the very moment the last words left Fenna's lips, a sudden movement occurred from the side. The movement was so lightning fast, that Fenna's flawed senses failed to react to the occurrence. With time flowing slowly, Fenna turned her head and suddenly discovered the figure of the marine, Aaron Salico, leaping straight towards her within a single movement; an expected blitz assault. Unfortunately, the nervous amaji paralyzed as the jolt of surprise and sudden fear froze all of her movements.

Within this single moment, Aaron assaulted her – attempting to overwhelm her!

Tears were randomly thrown from her face as the young marine assaulted the armed woman along with her voice desperately shouting. Those who willed to engage immediately cowered back down as the gun's aim frequently swung uncontrollably. Obviously… the smaller stressed, weaker and inexperienced amaji woman was no significant match to the skills of the young marine.  
As first 'kushane' method of disarming failed, Aaron had no choice to but to execute his expertise… Fenna's painful shrieks scared nearly everybody as the handgun suddenly slid elsewhere alongside the floor before a specific person – The pain emitting from the joints of her limbs excelled as Aaron skillfully performed a disarming maneuver… Fenna desperately wrestled with the stronger man… so rough and hard that a small bit of her saliva even drizzled from her mouth…

But then… "nnngh… -", the bridge suddenly silenced along with Fenna's sobbing scream… Nearly her entire breath left her lungs … Just a single moment before, Aaron threw the arms of the amaji woman upwards followed by a not so powerful – yet painful – elbow blow to her solar plexus. The nervous reflex caused by the most accurate blow did its devilish deed…

Fenna's body received the blow without warning; being breathless and stunned for this single moment, Fenna bent and fell to her knees. Having no regrets, Aaron immediately knocked her torso forwards, causing both face and body to meet with the floor, followed by Aaron tackling her down whilst grappling her arms behind her back. Fenna's tears dripped upon the floor. Her face was red… she craved for breath, vainly trying to speak… she quietly sobbed, "H-help me… Ray".

The Vaygr quietly picked up the handgun that slid before his bulked feet, only to grab it by the shaft of the muzzle and offer it to Orelis, who immediately took it from him. Nearly everybody was shocked. At the end of the event, two operatives suddenly entered the bridge and also stopped at once as they discovered everybody staring upon the marine and the tackled operative, not knowing what was going on.  
"I will not resist."

"Commander Delixa – I'm sorry, ma'am, but I am going to arrest this woman as well", Aaron suddenly notified, "- with your permission, of course.", pulling out something from his utility pouches from his back, Aaron slipped versatile cuffs upon Fenna's wrists, "Sorry, Fenna – but it is my duty to protect those of this ship - and your life."

Doctor Jonas caught his mind again and immediately rushed to Fenna, "Get off her! You're crushing her respiratory system! All right, just stay calm – you'll be able to breathe normal in a few secs… just breath slowly – or you will faint. Slowly… "

"Anyways… I assaulted you because I noticed the handgun on safety mode…"

Fenna did not listen to him but stared to the side with her face to floor, staring at Hailynn, Ray and the others who stood before her way… The defeated Amaji bit her teeth together… she failed…

Thank goodness, Orelis thought as he stared at the pistol. The handgun was still indeed safe. Obviously, Fenna did not have any real skill in using handguns either – thankfully.  
Pethera only turned around, throwing a single glance upon Hailynn before returning to her seat. It was a cold glance… a dominant glance, silently whispering, _your life is my property…_

"Orelis?", Hailynn suddenly asked, "_What_ was Fenna referring to just moments before?"

"E-Excuse me, Hailey?", he nervously asked as he removed his view from the handgun, "sigh Hold on, Hailey You two operatives back there – and you, next to me, take this gun and get it to the armory. I want Fenna to be locked up at her quarters until further notice and guarded by an operative sentry and Ray to be brought to the brig… Stat!"

"I'm going with her", the doctor sounded loudly but then shook his head at several people; his pause was noticeable, questioning everybody's common sense, "This is madness… what has happened to all of you… You all have lost your minds…"

"Fenna's recent remark - She referred to people willing to surrender – p-people I killed?"

At the same moment Aaron lifted the defeated Amaji to who weak legs, Fenna desperately spoke lowly at first, "Those taiidans… turanics… H-hail- ", she gasped several times…

"Tell me about them! What is it?!", now it was Hailynn who became nervous.

"Hailey…", Orelis remarked, "I don't think you are going to like to hear this… but the turanics… and the single taiidan… They were not… our… enemies…"

Hailynn's face changed slightly, "What do you mean? They came on our ship along with those Vaygr – They INVADED us… and killed several of our peop-"

"Because some of them were forced Hailynn. Granted, a selected few were still too loyal and crazed to serve the Vaygr… but… according to the negotiations I partook alongside with the Captain, Corporal Salico and a few operatives, we've spoken with their leader – One of the many descendants of the taiidan empire and turanic kingdom. Her name is Del… Dil… no, Delophane Vamaii, Taiidan Lieutenant. Along with her was her taiiranic halfsister, Beii Keljin, and a lots of turanics.  
L-listen, this is the probably going to shock you, Hailynn, but they wished to surrender. They all had no choice back then – Not any of the taiidan-turanics did back at the M'randara Star System all this time through. They were forced to serve the Vaygr.  
Those Kadeshi Seeker guys killed a lot of them and stole that one… Core… from them. I can't really recall all of it, but I tell you, Hailynn, they were never our true enemies – heh, well, they definitely had several _bad apples_, Vamaii did not deny that, but there were many throughout their ranks that always looked for some sort of… salvation, a way out of that cursed mess. When a few of them latched themselves onto our ship, they found it to be the smartest thing to do:  
To board the ship to surrender and beg for asylum out of that madness. They just wanted to survive. They were accompanied by Vaygr units - _We… unfortunately…_", his words took great significance as he spoke slower, "_killed the group that was full of the taiidan-turanic people – it also had another small group with Vaygr infiltrators – It was for the sake of our people... but we could have still… saved some of their lives. It was when you ordered that procedure to surge that side of the ship through hyperspace fields._"

Fenna forced Aaron to stop a moment, "Y-you heard right, Hailynn. You killed s-several gasps of those people who wanted to flee that madness…", she viciously mentioned, " You never insisted to negotiate with them – you just alarmed the crew to get to the guns… frell… you just ran off and decided to go and kill everybody on the way – screwing up everybody's lives -!  
You're a goddamn drug-addicted psychopath – I was there for you gasps when you were vomiting your soul out of yourself… and this is the thanks for all the crap I did for you, huh, HUH?!"

"All right, enough of this!", Orelis barked at Fenna, "You, lady, off the bridge! Salico, operatives, you have your orders! Get to it!", signaling the others to take Ray and Fenna away.

The Captain only quietly hid his face under the rim of his officer's cap, only to recall what a wise man once said, _Love hurts…_

As Fenna was carried away, she frequently _yelled_ at Hailynn with her husky voice, frequently repeating all that Hailynn had done wrongly – with the cause of deaths, if not, murders upon those who only seek blood truce and peace. _You hear me_, the husky voice of the woman desperately yelled over again, decrying on Hailynn's conscience. Fenna and others disappeared as the rear access doors closed…

"Hoo boy", Orelis commented, "Just when I thought what was said on her record was the tip of the iceberg… This is not really going to make it look any better once -", he halted his speech as he looked over to Hailynn, "Hailey- ?"

Hailynn just stood there…

Making only a short glimpse back at him, Orelis silence only revealed that all of it was true. Before he said anything, Hailynn hid her single eye and dared a look at the beautiful planet and its orbit… Amaj's open embrace awaited the return of their heroes.

However, before one could react, Hailynn suddenly turned away, her path aiming for the exit of the bridge on the other rear side of the bridge. Her movement was so swift and desperate that she dropped the crutch, regardless of what intense pain emitted with each step.

Orelis remained speechless as he quietly observed Hailynn rushing her way out of the bridge, soon crossing Pethera's view again… witnessing the edge of her mouth forming a faint, spiteful smile. Noticing a small figure stopping next to him when the access door sealed behind Hailynn's exit, he spotted the kadeshi girl quietly halting her movement as she held her arms up for some reason… but when she lost sight of Hailynn, her arms slowly fell to her sides.

Aligning his view upon the main screen, he knew the return to Amaj was going to be Hailynn's end… Thoughts filled his mind… He needed to prevent this… somehow –maybe there was a way, but before he made further thought, he immediately raised his voice, "All right – If I see another operative running around with a gun here… IF I SEE ANOTHER OPERATIVE JUMPING THE GUN... I SWEAR I'll...!" 


	25. Chapter 20 Homecoming part 5 of 6

Minor storage compartment – Executive Deck… not far from the bridge

Clunck - The access door closed behind her. Just by listening, it appeared as if nobody was within this small area loaded with equipment. Auxiliary lighting lit this quiet place with a dark crimson tone. The air was thick; unlikely that anybody had been in here for a while…

Hailynn thought she could make to her quarters but apparently, the path all the way there was far too painful. There were far too many operatives were moving along the long corridors – avoiding them was near impossible. Every hasted step she made exhausted her; every movement causing imminent pain. She simply could not continue… Barely able to hide from another small group of operatives, Hailynn took the next access door that was closest to her.

Single tears suddenly met with the cold floor as she slid downwards. More pain emitted from her sore left eye… Tears… more tears filled the bandages. It was pure agony that stunned her as she burst into tears. Losing control of emotions, Hailynn sobbed as her psyche shattered into millions of pieces. All of her misery surfaced at once.

Failures… so many failures. Many lives were lost; lives that could have been rescued. Even more lives were lost by her recklessness – Lives that only wished to beseech the Amajis for asylum and truce. What has she done…?

Her sore right hand frequently slammed against the floor.  
She murdered them – Cold Blood. Mindlessly. Her twisted ego made her kill anything that evoked threat and hatred. Memories recalled as she fought for her life against turanic gunmen… ruthlessly… Despite the fact that was defending her life, it was the dreaded thought of killing that disgusted her deeply. She hated herself.

_Gods…_

The Kadeshi Seekers… Aira – She nearly forgot about them. She fought for their sake… promising that the Kiith Amaj would return to aid them… that she would return rescue them from the devilish hordes… but knowing that she was going to be executed, how was she to rescue them now? How was Aira's future going to be?

With Asad escaping his guilt, Hailynn was now left with nothing in hand.

She choked slightly as she cried with deep agony.  
Surrounded by thick walls, her moaning dirges never left the room. She tried to look upon herself. Her legs and arms were still full of scratches – despite most of the injuries reconstructed and healed by Bentusi cell nanobots, the injuries were still present… emotionally.

The pain intensity of her left shoulder was devastating… she still sensed the round that smashed against her radio unit like a twisting knife still drilling itself into the very deep of flesh and bone. Her left eye ached so intensively that she tried cried out once more but failed as one of her lungs was only partially _repaired_.

Fenna was right… Hailynn was indeed a monster, an abomination between a living being and a killing machine.  
The defeated Hiigaran suddenly smiled for a faint moment. Everybody assumed her being a hero – How could she be one? And now? She was a Krin'Sa… soon to be **sentenced to death**!

Her psyche became out of control – no longer able to suppress what her mind and soul had to absorb all this time through; The addiction being the least of her problems. The walls circled her… her eyes frantically wandered as she cried further. There was no chance that any being could survive with such _pain_.  
_She is alone… cornered… Once again, alone and cornered like the first time many years ago… with no escape… bleeding all of her sorrows through her eyes…_

Orbit of Amaji Prime

Over two hours later. Throughout this time, the _Vjel-Amaj_ and its two automated cargo transports continued their approach towards _Providence Anchorage_. During the entry into the orbital territory of Amaji Prime, it became clear that the return was going to be more than just a mere excitement; noticeably, more _celebratory_ activity occurred from the individuals the closer they came to the planet's orbit. The huger support vessels of _Providence_, the so-called _Chinampas_, held their positions throughout the vicinity.

The space controllers, the security forces and the plethora of individuals soon encircled the vicinity of Amaji cruiser as it slowly entered the typical and appropriate trajectory to the port module while leaving a trail of thin smoke. Another surprise was the given _right of way_ along the trajectory path that had the _Vjel-Amaj_ and its small group drifting along with much vacant space. Usually, an endless row of ships would be entering this curved flight path for docking upon the various sorts of ports, slots and docking anchorage alongside _Providence_'s broad maritime modules.

Escorted by a small group assigned by the space controllers, the _Vjel-Amaj_ was supported by several of the Navy's sophisticated assault frigates to maintain the safety perimeter and pairs of the controllers' versatile space corvettes latched upon its hull; serving as vital maneuvering supports due to the battered shape of the vessel.

Bridge

Much later after the events that occurred upon the bridge, the crew had yet to face the shock of homecoming. The bridge itself was moderately lit, having each station illuminated with its individual setting of artificial lighting and had several groups chattering. Most of them have already finished packing up their gear and belongings from their quarters.

"Wow…", Koji, one of the surveillance operative said to the others.

Staring upon various screens, a mixed group of bridge operatives from various fields were astonished as they witnessed all that was going on throughout the intercepted media and wave links. Nearly every found cycle of signals led to various channels, programs and broadcastings dealing with the return of their ship; from documentaries, commercials, reporters and newsgroups, talk rounds with prominent experts to some science fiction series based on the Hiigaran and Amaji Navy and its assets.

"Gods… We're almost on every channel", Koji sighed as he scanned other frequencies, "Picking tons of references to us – from the waves to the infolinks."  
_At least it was a civilization out there._

"Well, what can you expect from us being gone for… a week?", another colleague snitched.

"Ha-ha… Yeah. It's just crazy", another navigation operative commented as she crossed her arms, "Anyways, I don't know about you guys, but I can't wait to get back."

"Oh, really, Sunoga? What's the rush?"  
"Husband, my son. You know… 'life'…"  
"Oh yeah… yeah", the surveillance operative replied and turned his head back to the screens, "Now that you mention it, I'm not sure…"

"Hm? Sure about what?"

The others who surrounded the sitting young man looked down upon him as he spoke his thoughts, "- Actually, I'm not sure _what_ to do once we're back. I mean, yeah, I'm happy we made it back home – but once we're there, I just don't know _what_ to do. I'm just surveillance operative, you know. I don't have a family - or really anybody waiting for me, to be honest. Frell, I might as well sign up for immediate duty and hop on the next ship heading out somewhere out in this constellation."

"Don't. Please don't. Not even if you were a workaholic", Sunoga begged firmly.

Koji frowned; He _is_ a workaholic.

A slight pause went through the group before somebody else noticed, "Well, you all can be sure about many of the operatives who are willing to resign – should it be from active duty or totally. Fenna was the first one to do it – well, the… _unorthodox_ way. But one thing is for sure, people – **Hazard pay** – and that on top of all our salaries. The best of it: it's assured that we're getting a big chunk off it, too, and I doubt there will be many of the current crew left over."  
Several nodded.

"Pff", somebody else snitched, "I'll first believe it when it's on my account. Besides, there are tons of junior operatives just waiting to get on this ship… oh, and until that can happen, the Navy has to fix this ship first – but about us: We pulled the three month shift through. We've done our job. We deserved it, so… we can freely make some space for them… 'newbies'."

"Aye", Zann noted from their side, "The ship's is still hurt – badly, mates. I guess she… no, it… wait a minute, the Commander said the ship was a she after all - ah whatever, the ship will surely need several weeks at Assembly Port to get back to basic operational status. I doubt that VJ will take part on anything for a long while."

"Yeah. True, true."  
"Hey, Koji", the navigation operative said privately to the surveillance officer as the others spoke further with each other, "Look, I know you could need some company - like all of us. Say, why don't you join up with my small family and I? You're pretty much part of it already. I'm sure some others here will join up."

"Uhm…"

Sunoga knew Koji well enough to know that his hesitation was actually buying time to form an excuse.

"Take it as an invitation you can't deny", she winked.  
"sigh All right, all right…"  
"Good. Hope to see you with us after the Visarjan-Drill. All right, I better get back to Kelsea before she gets a seizure. She'll be needing my help navigating this ship to _Providence_."

Meanwhile. Quan, who quietly observed the bunch talking with each other at the other side of the bridge, slowly turned himself back to the observation station and stretched himself a few times. Making a short glimpse to his right side and further ahead, he noticed Kenta's nervous hands reaching out for a set several buttons on her side and then disappearing back in front the seat of the sophisticated helm station.

"Hey, Kelsea, How's it -?", he called out but noticed her hand reappearing, waving a desperate '**not now! I'm busy**'.

Apparently, Kelsea was already stressed out with the loads of tasks left open by Fenna. Not only did the poor senior communication operative had to uphold contact with the controllers, she also had to maintain the helm and frequently listen to instructions given by the supporting corvettes and other officials directing her navigational orders.

With the _Vjel-Amaj_ being in such bad shape, her extreme inexperience and the gravity of the planet hindering most of the ship's own gravity maneuverability, Kelsea had many difficulties to put up with – noticeable by having earplugs of Fenna and her radio unit in each ear. Maintaining the degree of the trajectory approach was not an easy task with conventional –but malfunctioning – vernier thruster. Having the screens' background of _Providence_ loaded with digital information, other ships, vectors and the huge planet behind moving due to the change of perspective did not make matters easier but scarier for her.

Once again, Quan turned back to his station and looked at his sister and the absent-minded kadeshi girl, hoping he could evoke some conversation, "Man, everybody busy. How're you doing, sister? You look uncomfortable."

One of the _greatest_ achievements of the observatory station were its comfortable seats. Though all seats had a lean-back function, these seats offered more beyond the angle. Due to the fact that such sophisticated station with its broad amount of assets needed to be economically fitted into the bridge, it was common to see the astronomers leaned back on a near bed-like position, viewing through sophisticated scopes, visors – some would even say 'periscopes by cable' – in order to see live feed images caught by sensory and observatory systems.

The observatory station itself was the perfect line resembling between old fashion and future technology.

Both Kenta and Aira quietly laid upon the leaned seat; the kadeshi girl laying upon Kenta as both viewed the surroundings through all sorts of observatory systems. Throughout this time, it seemed as if the view also evoked distant reminiscences as Aira stared upon it; her hands frequently rubbing smoothly upon 'Kadesha's Eye and Tear' as she silently spoke prayer.

Though Kenta already had seen the invisible beauties flowing throughout and above the atmosphere of Amaji Prime many times, the captured live images of the spectral hazes left her in astonishment.

It was neither clear where nor how these for the naked eye invisibly moving cloaks formed up. Ships of all kinds quietly moved upon them like those ancient sails from the history chips. The crescent of the moon was hardly visible. But aside to the beautiful appearances throughout the vicinity, the view also scared Kenta slightly as she stared upon the planet.

The view was so real and three-dimensional that it felt as if she really were floating above Amaji Prime by herself – if it were not for the ships that frequently eclipsed before her view along with the recurrent hyperjumps. Another disturbing factor was the emissions of all kinds hampering the more sensitive arrays, predominantly due to the fact that they were entering the lively areas of _Providence Anchorage_. _Providence_ also possessed interesting things, noticeable upon its exterior hull; craters resembling sustained damages and battle scars reminding of the preceding Hiigaran-Vaygr war when the vessel partook in the last desperate stages of the Siege.

These damages were never repaired, as if they slowly became silent remembrances of war. The Galactic Core Expanse was just one of many distant surreal nebulas filling portions of the surrounding galaxy.

"Hey?"  
"Huh? Oh sorry, Q. Got carried away."  
"By eye candy?"

Kenta looked over to her brother for a short moment before returning her view back upon the portable screen above her,  
"Yes, sort of", she confessed.

"Heh, suppose you are. But you really look… weird."  
"Well…", Kenta hesitated to talk.  
Quan was right about his assumption. His sister was indeed showing sign of discomfort.

"I didn't want to bug her. However, both of my legs _fell asleep_…", she replied as she stroked the girl's silky hair before pointing down to the fact that the girl was sitting upon the joint of her legs, merely suppressing the blood flow to her legs, "It's okay though. I'll live."  
"You two seem to enjoy the view."

Kenta smiled back at him once more.

What both operatives did not know was the real fact that Aira did not need to be viewing these images through an observatory station; all available types of prospecting tools, observatory arrays, telescopic units and many other systems projected their acquired data and images directly into her mind – and that was only the 'physical' part, her mental and emotional capabilities sensed the masses of countless bodies throughout space with ease.

"Hey, how about you, Aira – You okay?", Quan dared to ask.  
"I am… undamaged", she immediately whispered back to him, "_not hurt_…"

Her way of response was much of a surprise for them.

"G-Good to know", Quan replied and turned his view over to his screen full of static interferences due to the ultra sensitive settings of his observatory system, "Man, I've got to turn down the sensitivity. That traffic out there is loaded."

"I wonder what else is going on out there…"

Suddenly, Aira began to speak, lip-synching whatever waves randomly flew into her mind, "Cormorant 'Jester-Two', relocate to following vectors, over... 'Jester-Two', confirmed Space Control, relocation point received… in transit… Command, supplemental wing of three _Aegis_ Frigates ready for short-jump to designated distress beacon. Over –viduals not knowing what was the cause for the sudden loss of cabin pressure. According to the affiliating media networks of FOURTH-STAR, the local forces are currently investigating the freighter that lost nearly two-thirds of its crew.  
However, officials have claimed that the hull rupture was either caused by _kushan failure_ in pressurization procedures or by material fatigue perhaps caused by the influences through the radioactive cargo. Furthermore, the officials have excluded hostile causes of sabotage – So you like space and always wanted to know how it is? How it is like to be floating at 17000 of kilometers per hour – fixing valuable and highly equipment for various media companies? Want to be just like _Low G Man_? _Morerawn_ics Consortium is offering outstanding pay, insurances and innovative contracts for different fields of astronautic maintenance. Astronaut license achievement is the simplest thing to get. Interested or not – let us convince you. Contact infolinks ppp-dot-morerawnics-minus-orbitage-dot-kom."  
Both siblings looked at each other as Aira continuously spoke further… She was really picking up all sorts of media waves, transmissions and anything else transmitted by wave.

Meanwhile, Orelis was upon the beginning of the Executive Deck outside of the bridge, just steps beyond its exit. It was ironic that it was he who _asked_ the ex-Captain to maintain bridge command during his absence, but considering Orelis' intentions regarding Hailynn's demise, the Captain immediately accepted his request.

Predominantly, it was Hailynn's morbid future that became his greatest concern over the last hours. Though constantly trying to contact a specific person somewhere upon _Providence_ through his personal cell phone, the connection frequently aborted due to instability. Apparently, his position was still too far away to receive support from the net – Nonetheless, in order to support Hailynn, Orelis was desperately going to have to contact this specific person.

**- Visarjan Drill -**

Inner docking port, naval segment - Providence

At last. The _Vjel-Amaj_ entered the interior segment of the space port. After a week of terror, the battered cruiser finally returned home. All eyes followed the ship's slow approach along the port that was filled with docked ships, scaffolds, construction sites and cranes, waving astronauts and many other floating drones and units. Various view points and shelled areas for public viewing allowed a great observational overview up this huge and lively segment.

The surroundings was nothing alike the derelict taiidan mothership. Unlike the inner world of the Bentusi Harborship, the surroundings was through and through full of mechanical devices, metallic structures and technical surfaces with common schemes of Hiigaran and forgotten Progenitor engineering; Nothing resembled any looks of moving biomechanical gadgets or assets but pure manpower of hardworking people.

_Kelsea is seen as she stressfully concentrates and manages to navigate the ship to the desired port; her eyes and hands bewildered by frequently given commands, suggestions and instructions – her mouth complying with every given order by Captain Quenton. Ever since the support corvettes released themselves, the last part of docking was left upon her hands… and feet. Her mind played a trick on her ever since their ship approached the leviathan's inner segment. With the beautiful but majestic planet being below, it almost felt as if it was Providence that was approaching her._

Yellow signal lights of the secondary port units continuously flashed as the ship drifted with an extremely slow pace; a single moment later, all lights shifted to green phases… The last stage of docking was almost completed.

"Seventy meters and decreasing. Rate of approach – Stable", Sunoga confirmed to the troubled substitute helmswoman, "All guide-lines aligned. Keep it like that - You're doing it great, Kelsea. Almost there… Magnetic anchoring units should catch us any moment."

_Other voices confirm the approach and phase of the docking procedure through both individual ear plugs of Kelsea._  
At the same moment the entire crew experienced separate vibrations, the ship halted as it was captured by several magnetic field emitters. Within short time, hook-points, mechanical pressure-sealed personnel and logistics footbridges and docking clams secured the cruiser from further movement.

_Several seconds went by before Kelsea's sweaty palms slips from the controls. Resetting both communication units on each shoulder, she clears her voice and nervously speaks_, "Senior communication operative… and s-substitute helmswoman… to all decks. Docking complete… out…"

"Helmswoman, Engineering", the ex-Captain called out, "'Status: Blue'. Disengage all propulsion, main powering systems and operational profile. _Bring her to sleep_."  
"Roger", Zann lastly confirmed along with the nervous substitute helmswoman.

A row of conducted shutdown sequences echoed throughout the ship. Inducing power soon stopped to flow throughout the grid. Within short moments, the _Vjel-Amaj_ calmed down, entering a state of quietness. Throughout the whole ship, all status lights shifted from green to a constant blue, signaling that the ship finally docked. Cheers then sounded throughout every deck.

_Hearing claps from behind, Kelsea nervously turns her view beyond the edge of the huge seat, finding several groups of operatives and the executive officers applauding to her for successfully bringing the ship back home. Giving a short wave, the blushing operative immediately hid herself back into the seat._

The claps slowed and seized as Captain Quenton Soban raised himself from his seat right after adjusting his unit for a public announcement, ""This is temporary commanding officer Captain Quenton Soban speaking to all decks: My fellow Amaji, we have successfully returned to _Providence_ and am proud to announce that we are finally home. As ordered by Amaji High Command, we all are to arrange ourselves to a Visarjan-Drill. I wish to see all of you attaining your positions… My crew, we have ventured through space for a long time and it has been more than an honor.""

Crewmen throughout the ship silenced as they listened to the voice emitting from the speakers.

""We all have suffered hardship… terrors…""

At the same time but from different locations, both Hailynn and Fenna look upwards; the Amaji woman being handcuffed in her darkened quarters and Hailynn somewhere hidden amidst a small storage room, both with faces full of tears.

""We have survived an atrocity… Our future is unknown of where this atrocity will end. Nevertheless, my crew, as of this day, let us be proud of our return… and adventures… Let us also never forget about our losses… and prides. We must never forget about those who lost their lives. We must thank them… and the Bentusi Enclave… both of them for sacrificing their lives and help for this day and moment of our return. You all have done me proud. Some of you… _may have returned with… sorrows, lost hopes…""_

Aira quietly recalled fretful moments as the man spoke.  
""and unwanted failures…""

For some reason, Hailynn felt that he was referring to her. She listened further as she wiped her face, ""- but I must beseech all of you who may be affected: Faith – Have faith. We have found a lost nation following its legacy for the sake of its future and we have found a lost group individuals willing to embrace peace as one of ours", the taiidan-turanic prisoners lifted their heads as the announcement was also transmitted to their sector, ""– Despite their preceding deeds, I beseech you to welcome them to the Kiith Amaj. Let us rejoice as a sole nation returning home. To all decks, I thank you for your loyalty and service. Pride to all of you… and welcome home. This is Captain Quenton Soban, over and out.""

The hiss of static ended shortly after the spoken words. His short speech struck everybody with a thoughtful moment about the past, present and the future.

"Operatives and officers of the bridge", the ex-Captain lastly pronounced to the whole bridge, "I wish to see you all rowed up outside with our fellow crewmen where we will meet the officials of High Command."

Concurring with his command, a flow of operatives soon made their way; each and every one of them saluting to the Captain before exiting the bridge. Sunoga swung her finger shortly at Koji, reminding him of the invitation before they disappeared through the exits. Kenta also guided Aira towards the exit.  
Being the last operative at the bridge, Kelsea finally detached herself and departed from the helm, soon to cross views with the Captain – not expecting that he was still waiting. Signaling her to wait a moment, the Sobani approached her for some reason. Once reaching her side, he suddenly lowered himself; as if he found something valuable on the floor. Before Kelsea dared to ask, the Captain quietly ordered her, "Attention."

Straightening her back, she attained a firm pose and looked ahead. Voices from each shoulder unit still emitted. Quenton's hands approached the collar of her uniform, fiddled shortly with it and then returned to his sides. Once finished, he arranged himself again in a proud militaristic pose, "Operative Kelsea, you have proven great skill at the helm. As for your outstanding service in both fields of communication and navigation, I hereby promote you to the rank of Ensign, Junior Grade, and bestow you with the 'Amaji Helmsman Wings'. Kelsea, do you accept these promotions?"

Unfortunately breaking her firm pose, Kelsea's right hand shortly felt upon the two emblems that formally belonged to Fenna; immediately recognizing both wings and rank symbols. Her hand remained frozen upon them – Her hesitation was a silent acceptance, soon followed by a faint nod.  
"I congratulate you, Ensign Kelsea of Amaj."

Pressurized logistics zone of Port Gamma, _Providence_

The logistics zone of Port Gamma, sometimes referred as Dry-Docks, was another huge area filled with ongoing transports, engineers, crewmen, workers and many others conducting usual dock works. Vehicles passed by alongside the secured paths further away. This segment of the area like many throughout the classified ports was specifically used for military assets. As rows crew of the _Vjel-Amaj_ finally departed from their ship, everybody felt the euphoria of homecoming; many of them thankful of seeing kushan beings rather than alien ones. Knowing that the _Visarjan-Drill_ about to occur, all crewmen packed their bags and belongings aside and rowed themselves.

Whilst nearing the edge of the long footbridge, Corporal Aaron Salico guided the captivated Fenna Amaj who carried her belongings in a transport bag to Orelis and Hailynn. Fenna's angered eyes remained fixed upon the Hiigaran woman.

"You sure about this, Hailey?", Orelis questioned her once more, somewhat referring to a previous conversation.

"Orelis, we already have the media swarming us, I'm sure of that. Last thing High Command needs is some sort of speculated _scandal_. Therefore… Corporal", Hailynn's spoke, "I wish you to release Fenna."

Aaron raised an eyebrow, "Ma'am? Err… I apologize, ma'am. Command understood, but are you aware that -?", he replied as he immediately fumbled with Fenna's handcuffs.  
"No time for any long explanations. We will have enough to talk about with High Command. Now Fenna, listen to me. Look at me."

Fenna said nothing but once again fixed her view upon the wrecked Hiigaran as her wrists were released from the small shackles; rubbing them with great hatred.

"I don't care what you think right now", Hailynn muttered, "Just take your things and leave with the last bit of honor you have. I thank you for your service. Just request your paycheck and… leave… Now – And I wish you not to partake on the Drill – I doubt you had the interest anyhow."

Far and high above them several were sealed lookout-points for the public viewers; all of them staring down at the dock workers and the crew that finally returned. Aside to the common viewers, relatives of the crew waved and cheered, hoping their loved ones could see them. Throughout loud crowds, a small group of junior grade operatives and cadets are seen viewing down upon the crew that slowly rowed themselves. Injured crewmen were immediately transported away; most likely to the medical facilities. The rows became numerous as more and more crewmen of various fields exited the mechanical footbridge – There were certain appearances that made the rows incomplete, however.

"Hmm – What are they doing?", Zak asked.  
"What?", Vinnie replied.  
"The crewmen. Look. What are they doing? Vinnie, you're the one who knows the way around with that stuff."  
"Yeah… It's a Visarjan-Drill all right."  
One of the female operatives of the group leaned forward slightly, "Visarge-what?"

"It's Visarjan-Drill. Something simple: It's just a traditional gesture of departing or welcoming a naval crew – Military style tradition, that is. For us 'people', it's nothing more than just rowing ourselves up and leaving the talking for those highly ranked military guys."  
"Is that so? But… hmm… Check it out, the rows down there are not… consistent. I don't think the arrangements are supposed to look like that, Vinnie."

Vinnie paused for a long while. The female operative bummed her elbow upon the somtaaw's side, wondering why he was so hesitant.  
"Yeah, sorry – The rows are not supposed to look like this. They seem to have several injured people – People who could not attend due to whatever – but those holes would be closed normally to keep the row consistent… but…"

"Stop making it so suspenseful!"  
"All right, All right. Look. Check out the rows that are consistent and look full – Those are groups that are just fine. Now… there are other ones that are a bit shorter – Those show that certain people must have been injured… but the empty rows, now that's something… not good."  
Others bunched up closer to him.  
"Hey, hey -"  
"Come on – Tell us!"  
"Casualties… Real casualties: Deaths."  
Silence filled the lookout point; even other bystanders and onlookers dared not to say a word.  
"Just looking at the ship tells me that something must have gone awfully wrong. I tell you this: Whatever they flew through, it was surely pure war."

Far below, rows of the Visarjan-Drill

Noticed by the rows of operatives and officers, all eyes stared upon Fenna who quietly rushed past the rows with angered swift steps and with her transport belongings, ignoring farewells or thankfulness for her efforts. Moving along, Fenna did not even salute to any of the High Command officials further away.  
_Don't worry, Ray… I will be back! __**WE WILL BE TOGETHER FOR GOOD**__!_

After several long moments later, the slow Hiigaran officer appeared, supported by Lieutenant Commander Orelis and the crutch he brought along. Both moved step by step as they departed from the long footbridge. Her appearance was breathtaking for many as they saw the woman still suffering from injuries; still wearing the messed up uniform.  
Looking ahead, Orelis spotted the officials of Amaji High Command approaching from further away – thankfully that they were not here yet. He however also discovered Pethera and her group of _henchmen_ aside of the Amaji crew… apparently showing off that they also belonged to it. He also spotted the bandaged Kaydaana Manaan further behind, rowed along the group of the few remaining strikecraft pilots; surprisingly, this was the first time she saw her so… quiet.

Finally reaching the first row next to the Captain and many other superiors of the executive crew, Hailynn attained the vacant spot next to him.

"H-how do I look?", Hailynn quietly muttered to Orelis.  
He threw a startled face; aside to those who had minor injuries, Hailynn was the only one throughout the entire mass of crewmen who had a wrecked appearance. Her face was slightly red… but for a change, he remained confident and arranged her messed up uniform slightly, "Just this last bit, Hailynn, we'll make it."  
"I guess… we're being watched, huh?", she commented quietly again.

Orelis shortly turned around and took several looks throughout their surroundings; his eyes met with the domed ceiling several hundreds of meters above, "_Man… The crowd ain't the only thing going bananas… The media is everywhere._", he commented as he spotted several technical engineers staring down upon their ranks and rows.  
Aira settled herself silently next to her caretaker.

Deck 7, Corridor of the _Vjel-Amaj_

The lone black-haired Amaji woman in a dark green uniform walked along the corridor, frequently pausing, performing dance movements and attempting to repeat the taiidan lyrics spoken as she listened to the loud _metal_ music emitting from her headsets, "…_I know… why you… blame me_…!"

Stopping in front of wall map revealing the ship's interior structure, the woman hummed the blazing melody further as she thought about where to go. Her finger slipped upon the touch screen; first heading to the brig sector, then to a specific region with crew quarters. As her finger bounced back and forth, she seemed as if she had a decision to make on whom to visit first; her arrested twin sister, the taiidan-turanic prisoners or Ray – unfortunately not knowing that Fenna was already released and already left the ship.

But as she looked back and forth down the long and empty corridor, she slowly noticed something…  
"Err… Where is everybody??"

Elsewhere upon the rows, logistics operative Rico suddenly leaned forward slightly and looked around as if he was looking for somebody. He had been doing this many times before.

"Psst, Rico", one man next to him whispered, "Knock it off, the officials are almost here! Stay put!"  
"All right… All right", the younger man replied and straightened himself.

"Who the frell are you looking for?!"

"Haven't you noticed? I don't see any sign of her", Rico whispered to him.

"Who?"

"Chief Deena."  
Making quick looks upon his surroundings, the man could not detect the bubbly executive anywhere, "Damn… You're right. Gods, where is she? D-don't tell me she's still on the ship!"  
"Guess so."

"Well, let's keep our cool. With these many holes in the rows, her absence shouldn't be that much of a big deal."  
"Right."  
"All right, quiet now. Those guys are here. Hope they hurry up with this…"

Every single person of the rows straightened their poses as the group of High Command officials approached them. Commodore Yor was accompanied by several other highly decorated officers of other kiithid of the Amaji Navy; nearly all of them being veterans of the Hiigaran-Vaygr war, serving formally as Vice-Admirals of the Hiigaran Navy before. Every individual appearance had a long story attached to their medals and symbols of distinguished service. Indeed, their appearance was a majestic one.

The following moments were full of militaristic greetings and traditional welcoming speeches. After the accepting the return of the _Vjel-Amaj_, Commodore Yor also held a long speech referring to the report and logs of Captain Quenton Soban recalling all that occurred, also notifying the crew of his regrets regarding the losses and thanking several for their heroic efforts along with Captain Quenton Soban explaining some of the bloodcurdling events. Many of the crew became anxious, knowing that the High Commander was slowly coming to an end:  
"… You all have reflected what the Kiith Amaj stands for. However, I speak to all of you; It is important to attain confidentiality about this operation. Following kiithidial laws and contracts, you are all obliged to maintain confidentiality considering your experiences. Yet, crewmen of the _Vjel-Amaj_, High Command is pleased of your return. We must also honor those who have lost their lives. It will also be the privilege of High Command to share these tragic casualties with the relatives. Henceforth, High Command still demands one last task from the superior officers of the _Vjel-Amaj_."  
For some reason, Hailynn sensed a disturbing note in his voice.  
"Superior officers, we require all of you to attain a **hearing** considering your experiences throughout the M'randara Star System and the operation. I apologize, but I am afraid that only the subordinate crew and the enlisted operatives may be dismissed. Members of the Kiith Supremacy will partake in this hearing as well. Apparently, your experiences has evoked greater interests by those… above… the Military Authority. Also, I have been told that a _Kiith Tribunal_ has been arranged."  
Hailynn quietly lowered her shoulders, knowing it was foolish of her to think that she was going to get away with it. Orelis also subtly bit his teeth together – He was going to need some serious help on this. Remembering his remark about 'bananas', he knew he had to contact a specific person... desperately, for the sake of Hailynn.

"Hence, you are to report at High Command to attain this last hearing **in exactly one hour**. As for the rest of you, crew of the _Vjel-Amaj_… We welcome you home aboard _Providence_ and thank you for your services onboard the _Vjel-Amaj_. You will all be _rewarded_ and honored for your deeds..."

The Commodore and the group behind him honorably saluted to the group, ending the Visarjan-Drill with the last traditional words.

"Captain Quenton of the Kiith Soban", Commodore Yor lastly mentioned before departing from them.

The Captain shortly repeated his words of honoring the crew before dismissing them from duty. All rows saluted honorably, and then cheered for their return home. It only took a single moment until the rows scrambled in relief. Many of them had no worries of the future but specific individuals. The only row that remained still was the row of the executive officers, specifically Hailynn, Orelis, Aira and separate others who knew what was coming in an hour.

As the rows dispersed, Rico suddenly spotted a familiar woman departing from the footbridge. Several logistics operatives next to him approached her with surprised eyes as she naively yelled, "Hey guys – Oww, we're already home?! Oh well – Has anybody seen my sister 'round here?! And why are all of you out here?!".

"M-Ma'am", Rico stuttered, "W-We just had a long Visarjan-Drill with those High Command guys…"  
"Oh? Ha – guess I missed something. I knew I heard something after all but this music was just too loud, eh?"

"Anyways, where's Fenna? Was going to visit her before visiting the taiiranics and Ray at the briggy."

"Boss", one of the ranked logistics operatives called, "Looks like she was released – and boy was she in a hurry. To be honest, she looked _pissed-as-frell_… I tell you. No goodbye or response to those thanking her for her work. I don't know, but I heard about some heavy things she did that got her arrested."

"Oh. Yeah, she did a lot of crap – even tossed a gunpoint at Hailynn, Aira and that Pethera - huh? But okay. I'll talk to her sometime. Well… Guess y'all off the ship. Might as well can head home! _Too bad, hehe_", Deena giggled, as if she actually had things planned for later but instead insisted to drop those ideas and wave, "Well, I'm going to head back onboard, guys. Maybe we see each other in the future for another crazy tour, mh?"

"Err… how come you know what Fenna did so precisely?"  
"Eh? Dunno, guess that god writing our fate screwed up again."  
"Chief?", a female operative replied from behind, "Aren't you leaving the ship?"

"Me? Nay, I've got lotsa things to do. Gotta meet Ray, gotta meet Delofff…Del… Delly and her people at the brig. Guess I'll maintain those skeleton crewguys while I'm at it."

However, at the same moment Deena was about to turn away, she spotted a specific female operative with a faint purple in her hair heading for Hailynn, "Ooww, I gotta see this!"

Elsewhere beyond the groups, Kelsea and a few other operatives including Velle appeared, asking the Captain for permission to partake in the hearing, which he granted. Orelis looked at the Captain, the superior officer who quietly reminded him of _faith_.

Even Kaydaana approached them, surprisingly quiet. Surely, Hailynn was going to need all the support she could get. Orelis suddenly stepped before Hailynn, "Well, guess VJ will be transferred to Assembly Port for a **very** long repair phase with the skeleton crew - but Hailey, listen, this is not over."  
"I know, the worst is yet to come."

"No, I mean, you won't stand this alone. They'll have to get through us first."  
"Are you kidding? We're talking here about the Kiith Supremacy, Orelis. They'll _slaughter_ you and anybody who'll stand in their way to get me. You know that."

Pulling out his cell phone, Orelis held it up in front of her, "I know, but if you're going down, they'll have to get through **us**!"

"Who are you talking about? All due respect to all of you willing… to stand for me, but I can't -"  
"For a change, Hailynn, let us try to **save your life**."  
"But… who are you going to call?"  
"Probably the only person who can help us out against these crazy kiithidial things, Hailynn. Trust me. Look, let us all get out of here and get to High Command. I'm sure _she'll_ be there by then."

As the group moved ahead, Deena suddenly appeared, managing to pull Hailynn subtly out of the group – only Aira stood still as she noticed her caretaker's halt. Turning around, the girl's hand dangled smoothly with her symbolic pendant as she listened.

"Hey there, boss!"  
"Deena? Um… Make it quick, I have to get going."

"Did my sister do much trouble for yah?"  
"Enough troubles. She left. Look, things are waiting for me to be done, Chief Deena."

"Just a small thing, boss, something you should probably know about. Not that I want to interfere, but you should know that Velle has some… _interests_ in you."  
Hailynn shook her head, "Don't worry, Deena, I already know about it."

"Is… Is that so? S-So you two are -?", it was clear that Deena's eyes were merely glowing for the gossip to soon share – despite the crew disbanding from duty… but at least she had the skeleton crew left, "I never thought you would have such _interests_."

"No, _she is_ – I am not. Look Chief, I don't have the time, but let me make this straight: Velle and I are friends. I am not what her _notion_ is alike, but for all that she has done for me, I insist to stay next to her as a close friend. Nothing more. Don't spread any _false stories_ to any Amaji crewmen about it, that's a lifetime order to you, Deena."  
"Oooow, _lifetime_?! I hate you! All right, boss", the bubbly logistics officer replied with a thumb-up gesture – surprisingly happy, "If I may say, it was an honor to serve you and… despite that notion of Velle, I am amazed how you accept it – positively meant! Man, if I had known you were that sexy, Boss, I'd go for you, too!"

"I need to get going, Deena. I doubt we will see each other beyond this day – but thanks for your work. Messy work, but you still managed it."  
"Thanks, Boss."  
"-_positively meant_… Enjoy home, okay?", Hailynn lastly remarked, waving her with the opposite side of her hand as she turned away.

Deena happily wove back to her, "Don't worry, Commander! Chief Deena always gets the jobs dun somehow! I'm sure you'll make it!"  
"What makes you so sure?"

"_One of them gods announced a sequel, boss_!  
"Stop talking nonsense. Bye - And you heard my lifetime order."

"Aye, ma'am, nothing to the other crewmen, ma'am!", Deena finally saluted as Hailynn disappeared through the crowd.

As Deena made her way back towards the footbridge to the accessible decks of the _Vjel-Amaj_, the operatives suddenly formed a devilish grin, "You said Amaji crewmen… but not taiiranic! This is gonna be excellent." Handclap 


	26. Chapter 20 Homecoming part 6 of 6

**- The Melancholy of Hailynn Delixa **

(Narrative voice)

Foreign affair, civil, military, notarial and kiithidial law and order play a great role throughout the Kiith Amaj. While courts, tribunals and other hearings deal with the issues resolving throughout communities, the Kiith Supremacy is well known for its inexcusable convictions; a fact many fear due to the fact that Amaj still follows the old kharakian traditions. Often do individuals find themselves accused by the Supremacy for violating or insulting kiithid individuals; such are often left with nothing but their word and a kiith lawyer to their defense.

Commonly, these assigned defense lawyers serving as representatives of kiithid juristic laws are known as _Kiith Advocates_ and thus belong to the sole hope of their clients. The Kiith Supremacy throughout Amaj, generally consisting of outer kiithidial members, holds great grudges and hatred for the individuals of the Kiith Amaj and their _liberal_ lifestyles and agenda; mostly reasonably caused by the Kiith Amaji Independence Declaration.

Advocates who fail to protect the individuals that fall under the eye of the Supremacy individuals in court are often not spared… This is why the Kiith Advocacy of Amaj take their job in the line of defense seriously and with great honor, so says their oath.  
(end of narrative speech)

A random café, far away from the Port and deep within the Promenade Sector of _Providence_

The inner districts throughout the Promenade Sector were always full of life during the orbital day cycle. The inner 'city' of _Providence_ offered much for sociality and cultures, thrived by immigrants, colonists and many other individuals. Despite the notice of Amaji space never being safe, those who were here knew that they need not much to worry about.

_A slightly tanned young woman in an elegant business uniform with a moderately-sized skirt quietly sits upon table while taking a sip from her drink, surrounded by the chatter of many resident guests enjoying their stay at the café and the exotic flavors of various meals and snacks. She quietly skims pages of new juristic protocols as she suddenly noticed a familiar sound emitting from her suitcase. After putting the pages aside, she opened her case shortly to pull out the ringing cell phone. The number on the display is familiar – unexpected._

"H-hello, is that you Orel-?!", she suddenly asked after accepting the call.  
""_Banana_"", his voice replied, ""Yeah, it's me, Orelis – I'm back, finally… I've been trying to get in touch with you ever since we entered Amaji Space, but the connection was horrific!""  
"So… You're the one who's been calling me the last hours? Never had your number shown until now – whoa, what a minute!", she suddenly snapped with a loud voice.

_Banana, the nickname of Bajula Naleigha Nabaal, immigrant to Kiith Amaj, in her mid 30s… A more or less successful kiith advocate serving both civil and military affairs inside and outside the law firms and one of the very few closest friends to Orelis. Both share the same miseries felt during the times of the Hiigaran-War; Orelis as a young officer – Naleigha formally as one of the individuals forced to partake breeding doctrines, later eluding it by emigrating to Amaj. Finding this new home, both found each other again. Despite having both coming from the same nabaali enclave, fate and their later careers always stood between them, never letting relationship develop beyond thoughtful moments – and it struck again…_

"Hey now, explain yourself, mister! Thought I would forget?!", she spoke, unknowingly catching the attention of others, "We had a date set someday ago and you dropped me again -!"  
""B-Banana, please, not now – This is serious!""

"Serious?! I've waited ages for you and you dropped me yet again, Orelis! It really hurt this time… you promised me that…", she replied, recalling everything she cooked at her apartment nearly three days ago, not to mention the preparations just to free that day of entangling work.

""Naleigha, please.""

Surprisingly, his short please calmed her anger. It was the tone of his voice. She had heard this _distress_ from him before.  
""Listen. I know we – I, I mean, I keep screwing up… when we try to meet, but please, Naleigha – I'll make up for it.""  
"Same words I keep hearing from you, man. You sound like you're in a rush."

""This is urgent, Naleigha, dead urgent. I promise you that I will make up for this, somehow… I just returned from a week of pure _frell_ from the _Vjel-Amaj_. I can't tell you any more about it but that a serious problem has occurred between my friend, a naval officer, and a …very… high kiithid persona.""

"Well… whoa… You first fail, now you want me to put myself in the line of fire for somebody I don't know? Orelis, look, I just returned from a long case that dealt with the Criminal Investigation Service that was closed today – friggin' ex-marine as the supervisory investigater and his stupid marine-rules. And with just one meeting between me and a long break from work, I won't -"

""Naleigha. I wouldn't be calling you knowing that I owe you already a lot – but right now, I am begging you for this… favor. We need you, badly. It is something very important for _all_ of us. Somebody's life is endangered, Banana, and that person saved our lives in many occasions indirectly – during this last week. Look, I'd even pay your salary for this sudden case…""

"Frell with the salary… Orelis."

""I-I know… we wanted to get together. We haven't talked for a **very** long while. I was really looking forward to the surprise… but these… things just resolved, Naleigha, serious things. Very serious things.""  
"For a change, Orelis, I just hoped we could just… forget about whatever _those things_ were… I even made a pineapple cake."

_A sweat-pearl of fear ran down Orelis' forehead with the thought 'Bloody lucky…' for not taking a bite from it._  
""I will make up for it, I promise… Naleigha, I need you to meet me ASAP at Amaji High Command Center, urgently. Within this hour!""

"What?! You can't be serious. I've got to attend that meeting and… O-Orelis, that is too sudden."

His long pause only replied his great dismay.  
"Gods… You really do mean it. long sigh All… All right. The senior partners are going to tear my head off but hey… I might happen to save the life of a somebody I happen NOT to know of."  
""I-O-U. For the sake of Kabaalistan, Naleigha. Meet you there at the square. And thank you – I'll make up for this"", Orelis' voice thankfully replied, ""Anything you want!""  
"O-Okay… _anything_?"  
For some reason, Orelis felt a cold shiver. The last phrase must have slipped out of his mouth.  
""…Anything… Banana.""

Amaji High Command Center, Main Conference Hall  
Nearly three hours later. Long conversations were held throughout the hearing, predominately reconstructing all events and decisions made accordingly to the seven day report given by Captain Soban.  
Practically all important personas of the _Vjel-Amaj_ partook this hearing; each giving their input and experience regarding the given questions by High Command. Commodore Yor and the other high officials circled the other side of the hall. Looking upon the group of the Amaji High Command, Hailynn spotted empty seats of the Somtaaw representatives – typically. They probably did not even care what happened all this time through. Unlike the missing Somtaaw, smaller numbers of kiith council members from Manaan, Nabaal, Paktu, Liir-Hraal and other minor ones were present as well.

"Pff…", Orelis ironically muttered to himself, "In Kiith Somtaaw, Somtaaw cares about YOU…"  
Hailynn had not been called yet to say a word. Most of the time, others answered questions - mainly the Captain. Her mind was elsewhere however. Not only did she await Pethera's strike on her, she also wondered about the future – the aftermath of all of this. Aira had not said a single word ever since she met her again, but strangely, each time Hailynn threw glance upon the girl from the side, the girl would silently look back at her and form a subtly gentle smile. A short glimpse to the others side of the hall revealed several high kiithid members of S'Jet that silently exchanged views with Pethera.

As the hearing took further place, Kaydaana also had no real interest in listening but to think about the translated message given by Kelsea when the Visarjan-Drill ended; The mysterious message transmitted by the toughest turanic fighter pilot she ever confronted in combat just two or three days ago – The same day where she lost several of her closest squadmates. Her eyes wandered further, spotting all the patriotic symbols and flags everywhere throughout the huge conference hall. The conference hall itself was not far from the Naval Command Information Center; the primary base and nerve of the entire Kiith Amaji Fleet. Kaydaana lowered her view again, not letting it wander further.

_You are a relentless opponent._, the message echoed in her mind, _We will meet again._.

There were many other words mentioned – at least translated the best Kelsea could -, but exactly those two phrases repeated themselves. But as she heard the name of "Ray", the turanic-taiidan prisoners and Vaygr-Hiigaran refuges being mentioned several times in the hearing, it seemed as if a discrepant argument was evolving between the executives of the _Vjel-Amaj_ and the officials of High Command.

Apparently, there seemed to be a serious political issue considering the rescued Vaygr. High Command seemed to subtly demand the executives to _hand out_ the Vaygr, the refugees and the prisoners. Noticing that unknown nabaali advocate woman leaning past Orelis' side, she called Hailynn for attention.

"What is it?", Hailynn whispered back to Naleigha.  
"Sorry to interfere, Delixa, but there is something you need to know."

"E-excuse me, Commodore. What?"

The Commodore repeated his demands, "The rescued Hiigarans are free to board _Providence_, Commanders and Captain of the _Vjel-Amaj_. However, the others are still hostilities despite their former deeds or surrenders. They are to be treated likewise – Therefore, we demand you to release them and transfer them to the authority of High Command."  
Both Hailynn and Orelis listened carefully to the advocate as she explained while the Captain insisted to buy time, "All right, listen. There is a reason why High Command is _requesting_ you to release them rather than just sending troops and getting them on their own. Look, I've experienced a similar event that happened between a foreign ship and a station at 5TH-Star – Things went awfully wrong, I tell you – especially on behalf of Somtaaw individuals involved – but let me cut myself short – that event brought up new laws. If I percept things well, this situation with that Vaygr… hero of yours, the other prisoners and refugees aboard _Vjel-Amaj_ isn't any different. According to those new laws, the _Vjel-Amaj_ is somewhat a **sovereignty of its own**! Despite the ship serving the Amaji Navy or whomever, it is achieves sovereignty as it also possesses a leader with kiithidial powers; that would be you, Krin'sa Delixa, and Captain Soban, whose kiithidial status is unknown to me. Whatever, if you don't want High Command to take over the fate of the people, you ought to **keep them on the ship**!"

Naleigha was outright serious with her words, noticeable by her glare. Indeed, she was an advocate who took her job very seriously; no matter the side she partook.

"Th-Thank you, Naleigha", Hailynn replied but then threw a sharp look at Orelis, "Orelis – With immediate cause: Contact the skeleton crew remaining the _Vjel-Amaj_! Under no circumstances are the refugees or Ray to leave the ship – neither the Vaygr, nor the Hiigarans! Prisoners are self-explanatory!"  
"What is this about, Commander Delixa. Speak at once!", one of the officials of High Command demanded from afar with a harsh tone.

As Orelis conducted Hailynn's order through his shoulder unit, she insisted to explain, "I am sorry, High Command, but I cannot let you do this. These people have done much for the sake of the _Vjel-Amaj_ and the pride. The Hiigarans have formed families with the Vaygr and I will not allow them to be interrogated as enemies due to obsolete declarations. It is my interest as… a Krin'sa."

Orelis subtly pat Naleigha's hand as a small gesture of a _formal_ thanks. A long pause went through the room as the Commodore raised his hand, gaining attention of both sides, "Very well, Commander Delixa. But beware, you cannot hold them under captivity forever. Alas… High Command has yet to negotiate with the council considering the fact that you have stumbled upon valuable minerals throughout the M'randara Star System… this so-called 'Rahji' you suddenly named – however, I fear the future of the Kadeshi Kiith does not lie in our hands. Due to such conflict, the Amaji Navy will not engage as the situation and rescue operation resolved beyond our is beyond our sovereignty.  
The fleet's priority of upholding Amaji security within our constellation still remains as the supreme objective. Henceforth, the request for diverting any further units to the M'randara Star System is denied. Neither will the Amaji Navy divert units, nor any other kiithid of the Amaji Kiith Council."

Hailynn suddenly stood up, ignoring the pain that emitted along with the sudden movement, "I beg your pardon, Commodore! The Seekers, they require support from our fleet! There may be further Hiigarans missing in action throughout the M'randara Star System! I am sure that the Hiigaran Navy even would -"

"The decision has been made, Commander – Denied. However, it is likely that higher kiithid may conduct operations on behalf of their initiative with outer corporations. While it is unlikely that the Amaji Navy will have to partake on their procedures directly from the start – or primarily -, it is likely that the Amaji Council will negotiate once more with this **subject**."

**Subject Prosperity** – The Amaji Navy and its subordinating departments have already classified all of the valuable riches found in the M'randara Nebula as subjects under the simple classification: Subject Prosperity. With the discovery of these extremely valuable masses, it seemed as if Hailynn suddenly became aware of a frightening fact that was surely to become true… some day. The _Kiithid Mine Rush_…

She turned her view away from the High Command officials.

"Hailey – You alright?", Orelis asked from below.

That damn Paktu… He was right… The Mine Rush was going to be inevitable… Or was it just phantasm – fears?

"With all due respect, Hailynn, but I'm really not looking forward to meeting those turanic freaks in that system again… They really had some ugly _dirty space alchemy_ going on…"  
"D-dirty what?", Naleigha dared to ask.  
"Destructive nuclear weaponry of all sorts – and practically everything else **crude** just to solve the purpose with pure death."

"Nevertheless, Krin'sa and Commander Delixa. High Command must end this hearing. Much has yet to be resolved from your reports. But I assure you that the _Vjel-Amaj_ and its crew will not partake on any further operations for a long time considering the damages sustained throughout the last week of service. We have yet to honor those who have lost their lives – A ceremony has been announced and once our departments have verified the casualty reports. Executives of the _Vjel-Amaj_, as of being the Chief-in-Command,  
I wish you to be dismissed from active duty and recreate yourselves in a well deserve _shore leave_ – We deeply wish you to recreate yourselves, specifically you, Commander Delixa. With the civilian supporters ending their shifts, High Command wishes to have the new shift to be indoctrinated during the maintenance phase of the _Vjel-Amaj_ that will surely require much time. We also hope to see experienced individuals of the previous crew partake in the training procedures.  
Executives… We must be wary. The conflict beyond our sovereignty will not be underestimated as this… Vaygr Warlord… may become a greater threat. However, are there any other matters to be resolved now?"

Hailynn suddenly threw another serious glare, this time towards the S'jeti woman who sat further away. Cold sweat ran down the side of her forehead. Pethera quietly returned the stare with a faint smile; she sensed Hailynn's inner fears – Her body could not hide what her implants detected.

Orelis also threw several views between the two women. Whatever was going on, things were not happening as… expected. Though Orelis was always the type of person to expect the worst, fate seemed to be taking a totally different path. Now it was Hailynn who was daring the devil with her staggering gaze. Pethera did not say a word. She knew she had Hailynn's life in her hand and yet… She only turned her eyes towards the other Kiith S'jeti members across the hall.

The wrecked Hiigaran woman was anxiously awaiting Pethera to _do her move_, letting the Kiith Tribunal dishonorably discharge Hailynn from all privileges – excluding her kiithidial status - and have her executed… but nothing was going to happen as long as Pethera would not announce her allegation.

_Wait… her implants_!, Hailynn thought as her eyes once again met with the set of circuit lines upon her forehead. Apparently, Pethera was already partaking on some in-depth conversation of her own with the other S'jeti individuals – most likely through the neural interfaces linked somewhere in that brain of hers. Before any words were said, the Kiith S'jeti individuals and Pethera suddenly lifted themselves and began to retreat from the hearing.

_What was this all about – A hideous trick_?

"Captain, Commanders and executives of the _Vjel-Amaj_", Commodore Yor lastly called out, "I declare this hearing for ended. I wish all of you to recover from your mission well and wish to see all of you honor those who have lost their lives. Pride."

Everybody, even the silent copycatting Aira, stood up and saluted to the Commodore and his following staff. As things started to loosen up, Orelis immediately dropped his shoulders in relief. It was finally over – This time definitely.  
"I hope whichever god is writing our fate would stop just now…", he muttered.  
"I thought we nabaali never believe in deities, Orelis", Naleigha replied as she packed thing from the table back into her handy suitcase.

"Well… I guess that pretty much was enough to call this a day. Aside to the fact that the senior partners are going to mess me up afterwards… I guess I did my good deed."  
Orelis shortly grabbed both sides of her arms, "You were great, Banana, I will still hold that promise."  
"G-Great, yet, I still wonder why you actually _needed_ me, Orelis. I mean…"

"Well, you're the best advocate I know."  
"Th-Thanks", she blushed slightly but shook her head, "No, I mean in connection with Hailynn and that… other kiithid woman over there, that scientist woman, Doctor Pethera. She did not really say or accuse the Commander of… of anything. Actually, I'm not sure why you needed me?"

Hailynn became desperate; she knew Pethera had to be up to something. Without warning, Hailynn suddenly moved away from the group and limped her to the departing S'jeti with hasted steps. Pethera was up to something – Something that would boomerang sooner or later… most likely when she would least expect it… but just as Hailynn was about to reach her, her last steps were intercepted by Captain Quenton Soban who gently caught her arm.

"C-Captain?"  
"Delixa. Let her go."

Pethera paused and only looked back at the time; a last glare, before finally disappearing through the exit. The others approached the two as he spoke, "Delixa, I wish to speak with you and Aira outside this base of operations."

"I must apologize, Captain, but I insist to learn what this is all about!", Hailynn desperately replied, "I know Pethera will come back later – if she won't strike now. I'm not going to live in fear all this time through! She can't possibly be intending to spare me! That fool Asad already got away with his guilt… I failed in getting him to justice… and -"  
"Commander… no… Hailynn", he replied, "Please. Let us have a walk and speak outside the High Command establishment. As for the rest of you: You are all dismissed as Commodore Yor approved."

It did not take all long until all of them exited the huge conference hall into the open corridor. As the group made their way out, individuals bid farewell.

"So… That's it?", Naleigha asked once more to the others, "I can assume the expected case will not occur, Captain Soban?"  
"Correctly, Advocate Naleigha", Quenton replied politely, "I admire your efforts and knowledge. You have elegantly joined our side and defended our standpoint with great skill. We all thank you for this. I assure you to grant your efforts _appropriately_."

"Thank you, Captain."  
"V-Very well, Captain, I will.. follow you outside with Aira."

It did not take long until the whole group departed from the secured internal perimeter to the main lobby and outer segment of the base. Marines, operatives and many other military personnel were everywhere throughout the lobby. During the long walk, a few slowed down as they nearly exited the area and as this happened, the Captain, Hailynn, Aira and Velle were already outside while the group dispersed further.

Feeling a tough grip grabbing his hand, Orelis was suddenly pulled away from the group, "W-What the – Whoa, Hey!", he stuttered, "K-Kaydaana, what are you doing?!".

Surprisingly, the bandaged Manaani hothead was trying to straggle the officer's arm in following her, "Yer comin' with me, pal! I need a drinkin' partner at the _den_!", she growled, referring to what pilots call bars, "And yah **will** come with meh!"

"The BAR?! What the frell? Stop pulling! I'm not heading there, woman! We just got back from a week of terror and I **REALLY** am not in the mood – If there is one thing I'm not going to do, it's to get involved in troubles with a goddamn drunk Manaani!"  
"Oh, yer comin' with me! An' if ah must straggle yah with meh!"  
"Knock-it-off, Kaydaana!"

"So… You hung all this time around with that woman while you were gone, huh, Orelis?", Naleigha asked naively.  
"Hey, this is not what you're thinking, Banana! I never hung around with her. This woman's **crazy**! I just want to rest and finally -"  
"Who yah callin' crazy, fool! Obey mah voice!"

"Hey, excuuuuuuuuuuse me, Manaani'unshi… - princess or whatever that means but -!"  
"An' who's this lil Nabaali-lawyer girl you calling a banana?! Your girlfriend?!"  
"I'm not his girlfriend!... w-well… I -", unfortunately, Naleigha was interrupted, unable to justify her confusing affiliation with Orelis.

"Damn it… for the last time", Orelis sighed, luckily getting a break from the dragging attempts, "Her name is **Ba**jula **Na**leigha **Na**baal! Got that?!"  
"Bajula Naleigha Nabaal, you say, eh?", the Manaani copycatted slowly and mustered the woman from top to bottom with her sharp green eyes, "Hmpf, she ain't got _enough_ below those clothes. And she's an advocate- and yah call her 'banana'? Bah, I think I'll call her 'avocado' instead. Awright, Avocado, I'm takin' Orelis with me to the _den_, I've got some stuff to drown! So – Why don't yah just… go back to yer office and read some law books, will yah? _Fenna already stole mah man, not gonna let it happen again_!"

Naleigha bit her teeth together… merely about to explode in anger, "WHA- WHY… YOU… Get lost you… whoever you are… and -!"  
"I'm Lieutenant Colonel Kaydaana of the Manaan, Pride of -"

"Shut up! Just give me one friggin' reason why Orelis should go with a packed up mummy like you, Manaani!", the Nabaali barked at Kaydaana, obviously through jealousy.

"Kaydaana, I've had it with your fooling around!", the man hurled at the Manaani, "I can't believe I'm actually talking this through. I don't think I should be burning my time with you. For no damn reason! Last thing I really won't do is hang around with you at some bar getting drunk with other mourners, woman – and I surely could be doing something better than that! Com'on, Naleigha, let's go."

Releasing himself once more, Orelis made a single step but stopped as he heard the Manaani calmly speaking from behind, "A **lot** while that lil avocado was here at home, Orelis. Yah saved mah life with that gunnery command of yers… during that last sortie of mine… and I also lost many to mourn for…"

Indeed, Kaydaana only had her uniform partially on, mixed with separate flight suit leggings, forearm segments and bandages including one across her forehead.

"Oh, why don't you just -?!"  
Noticing a difference, the grim officer suddenly became aware of change in the voice of the Manaani… deeper sorrows… Orelis suddenly cut between the two; immediately ending the foolish and childish argument. However, Naleigha was the one who was surprised because Orelis insisted to cover Kaydaana, "Whoa. No – Wait… Banana, please. I… need to head with her."

"… Why? I've been waiting for you all this time, Orelis! You owe me!", sadly, her jealously was making her sound foolish – reason enough for her to blush.

"I know, I know… but just not yet. This is not some date, Naleigha. We are grown-ups – no longer real _youngsters_", again, he had that serious tone in his voice, "Listen. We will meet up later today. I assure you that."

"W-What is this about, Orelis? You said you wanted to finally chill down. I-I thought you could come by! You said you promised me anything!"

Orelis laid his hands on the sides of her upper arms, "I think I was a little harsh to her, Banana. I apologize for this weird… change of mind – and for Kaydaana's acting, but this is something I have to do. I was too obsessed just getting back to _Providence_ and out of duty that I actually overheard the sorrows of Kaydaana."

"Are you with her or something -?!"

"No. Damn it. Listen. We went through a lot of bullshit and we need to…"

"Why don't you just come to **me** if you need to talk to somebody, Orelis? I thought I was closer to you than anybo-""

"You are. This is just… a duty as a commanding officer…"  
As Orelis explained, the Nabaali woman stared over his shoulder upon the bandaged Manaani. Remarkably, that weird loudmouthed woman was not as strong-willed as she previously thought. The vicious glare from her poison-green eyes narrowed into worried look; the once proud pose of this slightly smaller but bosomy Manaani was a façade that somewhat broke into that of a frail girl… sorrowing.

_You and your silly… military career – Always in our way…_

"We all lost many operatives… marines… pilots… real friends… out there – much of them lost by confusions, screw-ups, guilty runabouts - sacrifices for the sake of our lives. I'm probably going to regret this, but I must head with her. It is a Manaani privilege and custom to mourn for those lives lost in battle with whomever serving the same pride – predominantly, I guess I was sigh _honorably chosen_ by her. Granted, heading to a bar sounds… dumb… I thought Manaani would head to the nearest 'Shrine of her Divinity' – but just knowing a bit about those Manaani customs, one cannot head there with definite **shame**.  
I have no clue… what or why I am actually talking myself into this… but I know that it must be a shame greater than any being can't bear. I actually did hear of Kaydaana's past, some of it.", he shortly looked back at the Manaani, "On top of that, she had responsibility for those pilots. I don't need to tell you how pilots and marines hang together as a kiith – We all grow that aspect sooner or later with our fellowship. The sorrow of losing a brothering warrior hits a Manaani worse than death. I won't lie to you, we will meet up and do anything… as I promise…"

Orelis lastly released Naleigha from his grip, leaving her behind as he guided the bandaged Manaani away, "I promise".  
The Nabaali advocate quietly stared at the two as they made their way.

_Liar…_

Almost an hour later...

Captain Quenton Soban held a long private conversation with Hailynn, Aira and the accompanying Velle Xoti Amaj. It was a conversation that revealed greater troubles awaiting them in the future, reasons for act of Pethera not commencing the tribunal, further thoughts and serious conclusions. The region outside Amaji High Command Center offered much space leading to a railing as they slowly walked; the inner city deep within _Providence_ being visible far ahead, beneath the vast, shelled superdome.

"The true intentions of Doctor Pethera S'jet will remain unknown, Commander Delixa. However, I assure you that you may assume your life as _spared_", the Sobani man slowly explained, "I need not to repeat what definite charges and guilt Doctor Asad Paktu has eluded lastly, but you must know of this: I have had a thorough conversation with Dr. S'jet. She has revealed that, albeit all disgust she has upon your persona, I have formed a… contract… with her."

"S-Sir?"

"For the sake of your life, Delixa. But let me explain, as this contract has ended and my professional secrecy is now void. You have succeeded in lastly convincing Dr. Pethera of your intentions in accusing Dr. Asad for the considerable amount losses on his behalf. It was his relentless notion for greed that led to the deaths of many civilians of his corporation and several from our devoted operatives. You have also proven your ground and dignity for those around you. She is aware of this now. Alas, you defeated her as she conducted the order to Asad and his remaining crew to escape with their mining corvettes."

"Captain. I may have exaggerated. We actually lost a few operatives on his behalf – but many more were lost on my behalf… truly. All losses that occurred beyond his true deed were my failures. Our marines on the derelict taiidan mothership, elite pilots… Shodanii… Kadeshi lives that could have been saved… and even deaths upon the small taiidan-turanic entourage that only… wanted to surrender."

"_I know you too well, Delixa._", he shortly replied, before looking upon the silent kadeshi girl, "Delixa. You have everlastingly struggled for sake and honor… often did your intentions tangle with fate. Nonetheless. Never were we prepared to confront a Kadeshi Legacy in peril within the grip of a deadly remnant Vaygr crusade."

The four stopped upon the platform; the Captain taking two to three steps further, "I apologize to you and your crew, Hailynn. I have failed to support your convincing attempt to High Command for the sake of the Kadeshi Seekers. Though I am sure a combined fleet of Amaji, other kiithid and maybe even a convinced taiiranic-entourage could rescue the several lives… yet, our capacities would not be able to dwell, comply and support the near endless numbers of Kadeshi lives – even those that remain by the onslaught as we speak just now. Not even _Providence_ could support such capacity, even if it were able to hyperjump as long before. I understand that each second you stand here… breathing, bleeds sorrows with each lost life by that moment."

Hailynn lowered her view; her sorrow attracted Velle's hand upon her shoulder.

"N-Naji?", the girl suddenly called softly.  
"Aira?"  
All looked upon the girl that had been silent for a very long time. There was still note of calamity in the girl's mind that was for sure.

Aira's small hands gently fiddled with the necklace and the symbolic rock, frequently sensing the surfaces until she slowly stopped, "My naji, the wise man senses the affliction that plagues both of our souls", her soft voice trembled as she spoke further, "Naji, you, the Amaji, the wise man, the furious and valiant ones – all of you _have suffered sacrifices for the blood of my people_. Terrors… so many terrors and atros…atroci… d-deaths have occurred upon my blod and yet… all of you sorrow so much for them. My Naji, you have promised to return to her dying divinity, 'Kadesha's Ark'… but p-please, Naji, _I must now beg you._"

Velle approached the girl along with Hailynn who wondered why the girl pled, "A-Aira… What are you…saying?"

The young enigmatic emissary opened her mysterious velvet eyes, "M-my people have accepted their fate… Th-the path of fate will lead to _Kadesha's Tear_… so said the majestic emulator… but the veiled destiny will lead them to their end. I beg you… Naji… Y-your _sworn promise_ of return fills my heart with great woes!", Aira suddenly became unease, "So many souls have fallen. I beg you… p-please… seize your promise! So many have died for the sake of my people… I have failed to bring my people to _Rahji_ and lead them to what her divinity has blessed… n-no… cursed upon my soul! Pl-Please, do not follow the sworn promise! The Amaji have suffered enough…"

The Hiigaran woman suddenly griped both of Aira's, not believing what she begged for, "I cannot stop what I have sworn… I cannot allow them to die… not for the tale that has truth - Aira, Kadesha and Rahji are true! W-We cannot allow your people to be slain! I've sworn to return – I will not trust fate trying to end their existence… If that is so, fate is my enemy – just as Asad who caused deaths upon innocent lives."

"Commander. You must be aware that fate has greater plans. I cannot explain. I am aware of your hatred and anger for Asad's persona… but… Have you been aware of the fact that Aira has found the most valuable evidence of her entrusted religion – by cause of that man? Of all myths, beliefs and scientific facts – never have I experienced such… revelation.  
This stone – This material that some see as a worthless rock that was brought by a comet is true evidence to the legacy of the 'Kadesha's Ark' and its believers who have ventured across the galaxy just to seek the so-called truth: Aira truly being the emissary and that the comet flew across the galaxy originating from the 'Sea of Lost Souls', the sole Garden of Kadesh – the 'Tear' that was sent by the sorrow of a goddess to her lost love. Furthermore, if Asad had not excavated the minerals, she'd not be holding the most valuable destined object."

Hailynn and Velle dropped their shoulders. Though Velle had lesser knowledge, she still could not believe what she heard.  
"We Sobani are not believers, never are we to - but this did convince me that path of fate does exist. It is a cosmic combine I cannot define. However…", he explained to them, "The _Vjel-Amaj_ is an amazing vessel. It's crew, all of you have honored me throughout these last months of service with pride."  
Hailynn suddenly took a step forward, somewhat sensing what he was saying, "C-Captain?!"

"I congratulate you, Krin'sa Delixa, to the achievement of kiithidial voice. I was sorry to hear that you refused promotion. Despite your deeds and causes, you truly have deserved the promotion to the rank of Captain, I am assured of this. I hope someday you will rise. Nonetheless, this will be my last moment serving the Kiith Amaj as Captain. With the end of my serving contract for the Amaji Navy, I am to return to my Kiith Sobani Enclave serving the Hiigaran Empire."  
Both women revealed ongoing astonishment.

"Yes. It is true. This will be my last hour onboard _Providence_ and Kiith Amaji. As fate brings lives together, it will also bring them apart. With my brethren recalling me to the enclave, it is clear that we will **never** see each other again considering the light years between Amaji Space and the Sobani territory. It may be so that we will never see each other in person again with these lives. Thus, with the Jumpship Shuttle readying its drives, it will be a farewell that will leave me with sorrows for leaving the best crew behind – but also with pride knowing that a successor will stand my position."

Hailynn approached the Sobani Captain who firmly held his pose, "Y-Your last speech onboard… so it was… a formal farewell."  
"Yes. We have survived much terrors and hardships, Commander… long before when you were a young Ensign and novice helmswoman just entering service onboard the frigate TALON-VO.  
We have struggled months of terror, famine, cold times, years of victories and failures. We have lost and found friends and – but also allies that formed to enemies. We were the first to discover the terrifying transport mount of the Atmospheric Deprivation Warhead. We experienced the end of a frightful war, the birth of the Kiith Amaj, later to join and serve onboard its pride, the _Vjel-Amaj_ – and we have survived so long to speak of this last moment. Commander… no… Hailynn..."  
Hailynn stuttered, tears flew from her single eye.

_Not another loss… please no…_

"I have always served the Sobani and the Amaj as a loyal Captain. I have always endured a strict distance between my crew and my persona as a Captain – So says the Soban. Yet, my family and enclave of Soban shall not know that I am about to bid the daughter I never had an eternal farewell. Yet… I sense an eternal bond between both of us, Hailynn. We may not be of… as the taiiranics would say… no of the same bloodkeii, but I sense this bond. It exists. So many years of survival cannot be forgotten just like that."

Velle and Aira quietly stared at the two; neither hiding their sorrowing emotions.

At the same time, elsewhere.  
The so-called Den happened to be a bar filled with various sorts of people. Excluding heritages, various pilots, civilians and other guests held conversations as slow jazz music ran in the background. Blue light and shadows gave this area a bleak appearance… much to the annoyance of Orelis who had been listening to the Manaani talking her tale of woe. The Nabaali Commander was deeply bugged by the surroundings, not to mention the gaseous product of those 'cigarettes' that stung his nose.

Kaydaana almost spoke nonstop. Her story of depression started from the point she was _excommunicated_ from the highest Manaani Enclave, the repelling acts from others, the deaths of her elite comrades, failures, her high age of 47, up to the point of 'losing her man' to that dreaded Fenna Amaj. During the long depressing storytelling that actually continued, Orelis had to frequently witness the depressed Manaani boozing each served alcoholic drink with long deep swallows and her teasing by Manaani language and giggles. Though he understood that she felt terrible for the losses, Orelis' annoyance was near the boiling limit – almost regretting that he went along. While it was a _traditional_ meeting, it totally went off-track.

"I can't believe I've actually dropped Naleigha for this!", he suddenly said to her, interrupting her as he arranged his uniform and grabbed his duffle bag.

"Whuuuut? mild burp"  
"I've had enough of your talking, Kaydaana. I'm going…"  
Other guests tried to bypass Orelis, bumping into him.

"Wha-? Waaahaaayt hiccup", the drunk Manaani slurred, "Ah havn't told ye… that womuhn -"  
"'Stole yer man' – Damn it, Kaydaana, this is the twenty-third time you told me that! I don't care about that love-life between you, the Vaygr and that foolish Fenna… "

"…If ye wouldn't care… Ye wouldn't be countin' ha-ha-ha snorted giggles – sudden frown But I tell you that- ", she made a long pause – remarkably forgetting what she wanted to say, "I've lost mah-many friends Orel-boi…", Kaydaana's eyes sunk to the empty jug left with foam, "D-don't tell meh I'm loozin' ye too – Don't tell meh yah headin' to that avo'cate-avocado… banana-woman whoz only gawt sized-pairs of apples in that lil bust…"

Orelis silently raised himself and jagged his credit card into the slot of the table with an immediate deducting payment. Despite not drinking anything, he pulled his card back and replied, "This is neither a date nor an attempt trying to lay any of you women.

This was clearly just a waste of time between two officers. Naleigha is none of your business, Kaydaana. I'm sorry, but I'm going – I paid off the bill. Head home to your apartment, Kaydaana. No more beers for you – and for frakk's sake, I'm going to have the barkeeper send you somebody to pick you up before I find you in a fistfight. Should've known this all was just a waste of TIME!"

He was harsh, but he did not care. She was going to be all right anyhow since she just wanted to blabber her crap… but just as Orelis turned his back and aimed for the exit, he suddenly stopped when he heard the Manaani say behind him, "_Ah'm gonnah… dai, Orelis…_"

"Hailynn. You must trust the crew. You are Krin'sa now and a Commander with the heart of supreme leadership. The crew will serve. **Shall it be for good… or bad… Your heart wills the path of fate – Aira shall lead your eyes. She is the soul that will follow you – Wherever your heart may go. They will always be there for you**. The fate of the Kadeshi Seekers may be sealed – but your heart and Aira soul can form fate… I know you can."

Saluting both to Aira and Velle, the Captain honorably bid them fair well before focusing his view on Hailynn. Tears ran endlessly from her right eye; needless to say how sore the other one ached. Unable to hold back her emotions, the sorrowing Hiigaran hurled herself slightly forward, embracing the Sobani man as tightly as she could – He returned his thoughts with the same. Both officers hugged each other, forcefully, for they knew this was _the first time and last time_. Her blue slightly torn, wrecked and stained uniform squeezed tightly upon the Captain's black-red striped uniform. Hailynn hugged the officer… friend… _and father she never had_.

_Hailynn could not hold her deepest thought back… daring to ask the Sobani to stay for the sake of Amaji… maybe even the Kadeshi sufferers… but she sensed his rejection – His Kiith was recalling him. He had no choice._

It was a long hug… and took much effort to actually release the man. She could not explain the feelings… Love for a man? Perhaps… but more of a long time trusted father figure. Quenton knew Hailynn like no other. War heroes… veterans… survivors... They both were such… but it was time. Hailynn knew she could not keep him. Fate would not let it – Something she could not change… Drastic measures were out of the question.  
Instinctively, both slowly slipped their arms away from each other, each then made half a step away from each other.

A long trustful stare… leading to hands meeting to a trembling shake. Simultaneously, both of their hands formed the three gestures of Amaj – Brotherliness, Freedom… and Pride. The right-handed fists knocked softly against their left side, lifted and stretched the palm to a solid, firm and lastly elegant salute.

"You have done me proud, Krin'sa, Commander, Hailynn Delixa. Pride."  
"Y-You have done me proud, Warrior, Captain, Quenton Soban… _Pride_."

The Manaani had been chuckling, having hiccups and blabbering nonsense as the troubled Orelis supported her with his shoulder to her designated barracks that was not far from bar while carrying both of their duffle baggage. The Nabaali officer quietly withstood her teasing once they finally arrived at the entrance of her apartment. Thankfully, nobody but the guards from the post saw him carrying the drunken woman.

"giggles again"

"WHAT?!"

The drunken Manaani blew the strains of her hair off her eyes, also blowing her alcoholic breath into his face, "See – Ye care for meh aft'r ahhll, ey. Or are ye just tryin' to land hit on a Manaani, Nabaali-boi?"

"Open the door. Let us talk - Seriously."

It took much effort and patience from Orelis until the Manaani pulled out the keycard from her bags. Lastly carrying her inside and closing the door, he rushed in with her and immediately looked around for a place to put down the small drunken but heavy woman.

Settling – or actually – tossing her on a sofa, he immediately took a breather and looked around. Her apartment was not really tidy, but had lots of exotic things and objects spread throughout the room. From weird looking skulls to those even weirder looking fetishes and carvings from her Manaani heritage. The air was stuffy, surely caused by the minimal settings of air conditioning… and the weird things around. Orelis did not care much anyways.

"Gonnah git down on a Manaah-ni, Oh-rei-lis?", she slurred with a bad excuse of a seductive voice.  
"KNOCK IT OFF, KAYDAANA", he immediately barked.  
She bounced back slightly, "Whut wrong with you… Ah'm not that-?"

His serious stare did not change, "Kaydaana. Listen carefully. At the bar, you said you were going to die? That did not sound as a joke of yours – at all."  
"I… Ah did? Oh…", Kaydaana stuttered and started to giggle and laugh…

Orelis hated every second he wasted with this drunken woman. Practically every single sign of consideration from his side was replied with an unthankful, unforgiving prank; frequently cursing each moment wasted instead of having gone with Naleigha for a talk. It was true, _good deeds are never left unpunished._

Lastly, Orelis made a **long sigh**. Maybe her quote was just another - Sobs… sudden subs sounded from her lowered face. When hearing her sobs, the cynical man suddenly dropped his crossed arms. Never did he see the strong-willed Manaani bursting into tears… It was an unreal moment that caught him offguard.

Kaydaana wiped her tears and combed her hair, soon removing it from her side, she began to fiddle with the side of her flight suit chest piece after dropping the uniform jacket from her shoulders. Apparently observing her deed, Orelis frantically said, "Whoa, stop -!", hoping she would refrain from taking off her clothes.  
However, the man presumed wrongly; she was not removing all of her clothes but a specific region – Her left shoulder and the skin of her swarthy back. Did she want a back scratch to kill an itch? Or was she trying to pull something on him?  
_Wait, what is that_?

Taking steps closer, the Nabaali spotted something unusual: The skin was outright darker than her natural skin – fooling his eyes as he first thought it was just shadow. Revealing a bit more, the sorrowing Manaani showed that it truly was some sort of large _burn mark_ riddled across the left shoulder to the back.

"W-What is this, Kaydaana?"

She hesitated to answer.

"Dawk Jonas found that on mah hick back after mah retuhrn from that last sorteh after yah scared-aweff that 'Bandit' trranic. Y-Yah r'member mah ship was struhck befoah? "

He nodded, "Aye. Heard your fighter took a direct hit to the cockpit. Believe me, all of us were glad you survived. Mechanics later told me that was some sort of heavy Titanium-Sabot bolt."

"N-nawt quite… What yah see on mah back is the result of…", she sniffed many times, "Dawk said it was the result of cells affected b-by _raydie-ashn_", and slurred due to her drunken state.

"W-What? Radiation?! No hold on. I know the cockpit itself can protect pilots from intensive sources of radiation! N-no, wait… Don't tell me that…"  
"The bolt wasn't jus' some sorta Tits… Titan… Sabot rownd, Orrrl's. The shell's head was not made of 'tanium… but of some short-livin' dense material that contained raydio-active hick…", Kaydaana wove her hands many times, wanting to explain but could not find the words.

The Nabaali man looked around before aiming his view upon the Manaani woman who revealed this… disease. Apparently, Naleigha was going to be alone for this nightfall.

"Dawk said I received a dose of t'is raydiation jus' less than ah second, Orrrlis. Can yah imagine that, huh? The shell missed mah head and shouldah… and sprayed its crap all over the side behind me", Kaydaana shook her head many times, "I… The… Doctor said mah blood… and skin was… and is contaminated…  
P-poisonous. I felt a single burn… a sting… when the radiation hit mah back… Now… I feel nothing… b-but- It is there. Cancerous. Dawk said th-there's no true cure – Neither the Bentusi can cleanse mah blood. Itsa dreaded contamination like that cancer… Slowly killing me."

Never did Orelis expect something so serious. But he, too, had to understand that this skilled and strong-willed Manaani was a living kushan being like all of them.

"_Just ah year_, Orrlis… Maybe a bit more… Is – Is t'is how mah life will end? Without anybodeh on mah side… How'm I to survive? Infertile… left with ah year of life… excommunicated from mah true Kiith? I… Ah… I am Manaani… H-how c'n this happ'n like this to me… I am a cowerd… sniff I can't even tell this to Haileh…"

Feeling a sudden considerate hug, Kaydaana felt the closeness of Orelis; he sat down next to her, quietly holding the Manaani with his hand. Orelis said nothing but remained shocked, not a single word left his lips as the woman burst into further tears. He sat there with her… quietly, letting the night quietly pass by.

The Captain quietly handed his officer's cap and a strange medal Hailynn never identified nor dared to ask. It was symbolic… It had a deeper meaning.

"Recover well from suffered injuries. Rejoice our homecoming. Take care of yourself as how Velle would take care of you. Take care of Aira, for she is the precious soul we must protect and follow. Amaj is a world I wish I could continue to protect… but fate has a different path for me. I will not be able to attend the honor ceremony for our losses, yet I will heed your voice during the speech over the media. _Farewell_."

Their views followed the Captain whose steps slowly moved away from them. The cold wind from the sequenced vent that pulsed into the entire city was a cold remembrance of reality; The faint gush was a mere sign of fate, revealing that she was soon exposed to a veiled fate and future, _to follow and venture a path unknown_.  
Alone…

- End of Part I -


End file.
